Abstract:Arginine is widely utilized as a component or nutritional additive in the pharmaceutical, medical food, and feed industries. In this paper, a microcapsule arginine emulsion was prepared by double shearing and double emulsification, whereas solid microcapsules were prepared by spray drying. The morphology, physicochemical properties, and digestion characteristics of the arginine microcapsules were systematically analyzed through a series of characterization and detection methods such as optical microscopy, electron microscopy, mass spectrometry imaging, electronic nose, electronic tongue, thermogravimetric analysis, and in vitro simulated digestion. The storage stability was investigated through a series of stability tests. The results showed that the double shearing emulsification can form a stable W/O/W microcapsule arginine emulsion. The microcapsule prepared by spray drying was round and spherical, with an average particle size of 41.36 μm, and the loading amount of arginine was 12.16 wt.%. The content was mainly distributed inside the capsule, and the encapsulation rate was 95.51%. The outer water-soluble wall material exhibited good taste masking effects on the ammoniacal odor and bitterness of arginine. Additionally, a higher propensity for disintegration was observed during 30-minute simulated gastric digestion. A sustained release rate of 93.14% for arginine was observed. Moreover, arginine microcapsules had good stability, with an arginine retention rate of 93.82% after 90 days of storage at room temperature. This study may provide a theoretical basis for the commercial application of arginine microcapsules in practice.
