Recently, the Food Nutrition and Functional Foods Innovation Team of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IFST-CAAS) reviewed the methods, materials, release mechanism and applications of starch-based technology for encapsulation of flavor. The result was published in the top journal Carbohydrate Polymers (IF：10.7). Prof. Fengzhong Wang and Prof. Litao Tong are the co-corresponding authors and PhD student Yimeng Shan is the first author.

Encapsulation of flavor substances in appropriate materials and forms has been an important concern for researchers since flavor substances are very sensitive to temperature, humidity, light and oxygen. Compared with other flavor carriers, starch based materials are considered the most suitable standard materials for flavor packaging due to their stability, wide availability, affordability, odorlessness, complete biodegradability, and ease of modification into derivatives with different expected properties. The encapsulation of flavor compounds by starch based materials can effectively improve their thermal and oxidative stability, achieve controlled release of flavors, and enhance their bioavailability. As a new type of functional food technology, starch based flavor encapsulation technology has immeasurable market prospects.

This article comprehensively and systematically reviewed the technology of encapsulating flavor compounds in starch based materials, the properties and applications of starch based materials, and the release mechanism of encapsulated flavor compounds, aiming to provide ideas for the rational design of starch based material encapsulated flavor compounds. On this basis, the nutritional value of starch encapsulated flavor compounds and their future research directions in the food industry were proposed. Currently, research on the properties of encapsulated complexes is limited to characterizing their structural properties, simple calculations of release in simulated digestion models, and a lack of conformational relationships between structure and controlled release properties, as well as molecular interactions. In the future, the research will focus on elucidating the interaction mechanism between flavors and starch-based materials, exploring the connection between the structure and controlled-release properties of encapsulated complexes, and investigating the key factors affecting the controlled-release properties of encapsulated complexes, to improve the encapsulation rate and stability of encapsulated complexes, realize accurate release and specific effects in human organs, and provide a new way of thought for the development of functional foods.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122816