The effect of encapsulant type on physical and chemical characteristics of anthocyanin extract powder from red dragon fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus

Abstract

Abstract Anthocyanin pigment extract from red dragon fruit has the potential to be a natural dye for food and can be used as an alternative to synthetic dyes that are safer for health. Anthocyanins are unstable and easily degraded during processing and storage due to the influence of heat, pH, light, and oxygen. This problem can be overcome by making anthocyanin coloring powders with encapsulation techniques. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the type of encapsulant on the physical and chemical characteristics of anthocyanin extract powder from red dragon fruit. The encapsulation process of anthocyanin pigment extract was done by using the freeze drying method with the addition of maltodextrin, gum arabic, and a combination of maltodextrin and gum arabic as encapsulant. The physical and chemical characteristics parameters of anthocyanin extract powder analyzed were moisture content, solubility, color intensity, total anthocyanin content, and antioxidant activity. The results showed that the anthocyanin extract powder encapsulated using the freeze drying method obtained the best results using maltodextrin encapsulant with the results of the test parameters: water content of 5.96%, the solubility of 94.00%, color intensity of 0.304, total anthocyanin content of 31.17 mgCyE/g, and 84.60% of antioxidant activity.