Monascus fermented rice (MFR) or angkak is a product resulting from rice fermentation using Monascus sp. For the application in functional
food of MFR extract, the encapsulation and stability of this pigment have been studied. The extract of MFR was evaluated its stability to that of
pH (2-6), temperature (40-70o
C) and UV light exposure. Encapsulation of MFR was carried out by spray drying (SD) and freeze drying (FD)
methods with dextrin as encapsulating agent. The encapsulated products was analyzed the encapsulation yields, hygroscopicity and monacolin
K content. The absorbance of MFR extracts was increased by increasing the pH. The extract was stable after heat treatment at 50o
C, but the
absorbance was increased gradually when heating elevated up to 70o
C. The absorbance tend to stable after exposed to UV light for 5 hours.
Encapsulation yields of MFR extract by SD method (34.00%) was lower than by FD method (89.71%). Monacolin K content of encapsulated
product by SD method was 898.7μg g-1 and by FD method was 1458.3 μg g-1. However, the product by FD method was more hygroscopic
compared to SD method.