LAUSR

Abstract Tucuma oil contains high amounts of carotenoids, which present provitamin A and antioxidant properties, but its application in food products may be difficult due to hydrophobicity and susceptibility to degradation. The aim of this work was to produce tucuma oil powders by spray drying and to evaluate their physicochemical properties, storage stability and in vitro digestion. Different oil proportions (100, 200 and 300 g/kg) and drying temperatures (120 and 180 °C) were evaluated. Oxidative stability of oil and powders was evaluated by Rancimat at 120 °C, while carotenoid retention was determined during 125 days at 25 °C. Particles dried at 120 °C presented higher carotenoid contents (52.9–162.1 mg/kg) than that produced at 180 °C (43.7–130.6 mg/kg) and were chosen for further analysis. Encapsulation increased the oxidative stability (up to 177-fold) of oil under high temperature, besides allowing high carotenoid retention (73–85%) after storage, great dispersibility of oil in water (93.8–98.1%) and the controlled release of carotenoids during digestion steps, with an overall liberation of 64%. One may conclude that tucuma oil powders have potential to be incorporated into processed foods as a functional ingredient.