α-Tocopherol is a radical chain breaking antioxidant that can protect the integrity of tissues and play an important role in life process. Microparticles containing α-tocopherol were produced by spray drying technique using pea protein (PP), carboxymethylcellulose(CMC) and mixtures of these materials with maltodextrin (PP-M and CMC-M) as wall materials. The microparticles produced were characterised as regards the core retention (high performance liquid chromatography), the morphology (scanning electron microscopy) and size distribution (laser diffraction). The retention of α-tocopherol within all microparticles was above 77%. They showed a spherical shape and roughness at varied degrees. Their mean particles size remained below 7 µm, and the smallest sizes were found in PP and CMC-M microparticles. The results obtained in this work show that the pea protein use for α-tocopherol microencapsulation is a promising system for further application in food.

Microencapsulation is essential to preserve biological activity of ascorbic acid (AA) and pea protein has not been used as a carrier in such processes. This work aimed to produce microparticles by a spray-drying process using pea protein (PPC) as wall material of AA and evaluate the retention of the core by HPLC, overall morphology SEM, size distribution by light scattering and release kinetics. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and blends with maltodextrin (M) were produced for comparative analyses. The yields were compatible with the applied technology and the retention was above 84% for all materials. The PPC microparticles presented irregular and rough surfaces, CMC produced a regular and smooth surface and agglomeration was more intense in microparticles with M. Mean particle diameters were all below 8 µm. The microparticle release rates were lower than those with free AA, being best correlated to the Higuchi kinetic model. These results support the utilization of PPC for microencapsulation of AA.