Joanna Cosgrove09.16.10
No matter how healthy a food is, if it doesn’t taste good most consumers won’t continue to buy it. In the past decade there has been a sharp rise in foods with added vitamins or other functional nutraceutical ingredients—most of which don’t taste particularly good, have adequate shelf lives or survive the rigors of processing in their native states—and likewise, there’s also been in a in the demand for encapsulation technology.
“With research studies highlighting the dietary importance of omega 3 fatty acids demand for omega 3 fatty acid-fortified foods are on the rise,” the report said. “Tropicana Products for instance unveiled double encapsulated EPA and DHA fatty acid rich juices. In addition, incremental technology refinements are helping widen conventional application areas. i.e. a wider array of vitamins today, can be encapsulated, such as fat soluble (vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K) and water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B complex and vitamin C).”
"Food Encapsulation: A Global Strategic Business Report," published by San Jose, CA-based Global Industry Analysts, Inc., estimated the world market for food encapsulation to be more than $26 billion in the year 2009, and is projected to bring in nearly $40 billion by 2015. While Asia-Pacific represented the fastest growing market, the North American market for food encapsulation was projected to reach almost $15 billion by 2015, a significant increase from last year’s estimated $10 billion.
Though the recent economic downturn has presented many challenges to the food industry in general, food encapsulation technologies have remained largely shielded, according to growing health awareness, consumer time constraints and the ensuing demand for functional and convenience foods, which are the most important factors that continue to drive the growth and development of food encapsulation methods like microencapsulation, nanoencapsulation, macroencapsulation and hybrid technologies.
“The trend toward natural, wholesome and healthy products additionally pushes the business case for encapsulation, since natural ingredients like vitamins, phytonutrients, antimicrobials, antioxidants, enzymes and probiotic organisms are typically more unstable and reactive than their synthetic counterparts,” the report stated. “The poor stability properties make these ingredients incompatible in the food system and a challenge for use in foods, and thus require encapsulation to ensure against undesired reaction with the environment and other ingredients in the product. Food encapsulation technologies therefore enable the use of hitherto incompatible ingredients, and develop products that meet consumers’ demand for uniquely natural and healthy products.”
The study also indicated that the area of functional foods is a hotbed of ongoing activity for venture capital investments due to the growth of the aging population and increased demand for foods with disease prevention benefits. “For instance,” the report explained, “growing focus on digestive health propels the importance of probiotics, prebiotics and fiber in food. This calls for innovative ingredient formulation technologies, and food encapsulation in this regard stands attractively angled to rake in the proffered opportunities.”
Moreover, encapsulation was also described as a “potent competitive technology and tool” that enables manufacturers to “add value to their food and beverage products through innovative features such as, superior nutrient delivery, and enhanced sensory characteristics.”
The report specifically spotlighted coacervation and cocrystallization hybrid technologies as having the most potential to add value to the market by “expanding traditional application areas and in creating new application possibilities.”
As new formulating opportunities present themselves, so too do opportunities for advancement in encapsulating, especially as it relates to moving away from “conventional taste masking, color masking, oxidation and flavor stabilization towards food fortification, and its use as biocatalyst immobilization system.”
The study’s analysts found that the encapsulation of biocatalysts not only make for a more efficient passage through the processing phase of food and beverage manufacturing, it’s also helping to expand the functional and fortified food market—this has been evidenced in the proliferation of products formulated with encapsulated inulin and omega 3 fatty acids.
“With research studies highlighting the dietary importance of omega 3 fatty acids demand for omega 3 fatty acid-fortified foods are on the rise,” the report said. “Tropicana Products for instance unveiled double encapsulated EPA and DHA fatty acid rich juices. In addition, incremental technology refinements are helping widen conventional application areas. i.e. a wider array of vitamins today, can be encapsulated, such as fat soluble (vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K) and water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B complex and vitamin C).”
The “fun element” of encapsulation is also booming. Cited as an example was Canadian firm Orbitz which developed a beverage containing colored capsules that blended aromas, minerals and vitamins.
But with all of the successes, there are still challenges. Issues related to “maintaining optimum physical stability of encapsulated food, particularly nanoencapsulated foods, during processing and packaging” continue to be a top concern. The report also stated that ingredient manufacturers are also focused on reducing capsule sizes (“microencapsulation”) and finding ways to better target ingredient release behaviors.
“It is therefore not surprising that a large percentage of research projects are focused on shrinking capsule sizes, and enhancing adequate bioavailability of encapsulated ingredients,” the report said.
In conclusion, the report projected that the years 2010 through 2015 will be characterized by a variety of applications including, but not limited to, “encapsulation of food preservatives, flavors, fragrance, nutrients, probiotics, encapsulation in snack foods to enhance the health benefits of an otherwise unhealthy food category, and nanoencapsulation in beverages, among others.”
