The amount of lyophilized extract loaded in beads was estimated, as described by Deladino et al. (2007), by dissolving the capsules obtained from 10 mL extract in sodium citrate (10% w/v) during a period of 20 min for alginate capsules in a shaker at 37 °C and 125 rpm. The concentrations of lyophilized extract loaded in the beads were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and butanol assay method. A blank of sodium citrate was also performed. The percentage of loading efficiency was calculated with the following equation: