Imagine a strawberry bonbon. The strawberry is coated with a layer of white brigadeiro and then a layer of chocolate. The strawberry is the flavor and aroma ingredient, the brigadeiro protects the strawberry and the chocolate has the function of not getting your fingers dirty. It's exactly this concept behind encapsulated ingredients: a layer involving an ingredient and each part with a specific purpose.

In the case of baking, encapsulated ingredients can be used for the following purposes:

– Controlled release of the ingredient to prevent acting too soon or interfering with other ingredients. This is the case of acids and bases, preservatives, etc.

– Protection of ingredients sensitive to heat, light, humidity, oxygen or other environmental factors. Widely used for vitamins, omega-3 fatty acid, probiotics, etc.

– Masking unwanted aromas or flavors, such as omega-3 fatty acids.

– Dust reduction, used a lot in enzymes to protect the health of people who weigh and mix.

Along with each objective, one should think about how to release the ingredient. Thermal release is common in baked goods, using fat-based toppings that melt on baking, exposing the ingredient of interest. For ingredients that must be released when mixing the dough, common release modes are dissolution (icing dissolves in the dough water) and mechanical fracturing (with friction). Note that the material chosen for the outer layer will define the mode of release and the type of protection. Let's illustrate by going back to the strawberry bonbon: the desired release is by mechanical fracture (one bite). If I leave the bonbon exposed to heat, the chocolate layer melts and loses its functionality. The same goes for encapsulated ingredients. The choice of coating material must be in perfect alignment with the process. An encapsulate developed for yoghurts can be completely ineffective if applied to baking and vice versa.

Pman has a portfolio for the most varied applications, check out!