bstract
The efficiency of sago and tapioca starch stearates for encapsulating lemon oil were studied and compared to the efficiency of gum arabic. The stearates were prepared by esterification of stearic acid with starch. To accomplish esterification, the stearic acid was first coated on the surface of the starch granules. Then the coated granules were heated at 150 °C for 2 h to obtain sago or tapioca starch stearate (SSS or TSS). SSS or TSS can be prepared as ready-to-use products in the form of pregelatinized-hydrolyzed sago or tapioca starch stearate (PGHSSS or PGHTSS). The resulting modified starches were used for encapsulation of lemon oil. The lemon oil encapsulating efficiency for SSS with DS 0.009 and 0.014 were close to that of gum arabic, whereas the encapsulating efficiency for PGHSSS with DS 0.0052 and 0.016 were higher than that of the gum arabic. The TSS and PGHTSS provided encapsulating efficiencies lower than the gum arabic.