Effects of agglomeration on the properties of spray-dried encapsulated flavours

A flavour model system was encapsulated by spray-drying, using traditional carrier materials, and then subjected to agglomeration by fluidized bed processing. Flavour retention was not adversely affected by the secondary processing as long as agglomeration did not promote structure collapse. Agglomerated powders showed higher moisture contents, absolute densities and mean particle sizes than spray-dried-only powders. Surface oil decreased in the agglomerated powders as a consequence of the stripping effect in the agglomerator, but this reduction was not necessarily correlated with better shelf-life. In general, agglomeration did not considerably change the properties of the powders beyond the limitations inherently associated with the carriers employed.