LAUSR

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encapsulate vanilla extract by using inclusion complex of s-cyclodextrin and also to investigate the qualities of the encapsulated powder in terms of vanillin content, moisture content, and stability under accelerated condition. Design/methodology/approach A randomized block and factorial 3×3 experimental designs with three replications were used for the studies of solvent extraction, microencapsulation of natural vanilla extract and stability of microencapsulated vanilla powder. Findings Ethanol concentration and ratio of vanilla to ethanol had positive effects on vanillin content. The extraction with 55 percent ethanol and the ratio of vanilla pods to ethanol as 1:4 provided the highest vanillin content of 341.23 mg/100 mL of the extract. The amount of vanilla extract and kneading time gave significant (p<0.05) effect on the microencapsulation efficiency (ME). The greatest ME found was 94.50 percent when 9 percent vanilla extract and 10 min of kneading time were used. The interaction of temperature and water activity gave significant effect on the second-order kinetic reaction of encapsulated vanilla powder (p<0.05).The most suitable condition of storage was 35°C with aw of 0.64, providing the kinetic constant (k) of 0.0024, and correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.92 with thalf-life of 4.54 weeks. Originality/value This study provides the most suitable condition for natural vanilla extraction and microencapsulation as well as storage stability for natural vanilla powder production using the third grade vanilla pods grown at Royal Project, Khun Wang Center, Chiang Mai, Thailand.