Cottage cheeses functionalized with fennel and chamomile extracts: Comparative performance between free and microencapsulated forms
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Updated: Mar 27, 2026
Extraction of Plant-based Capsules for Microencapsulation Applications
Published on: November 9, 2016
Cristina Caleja1, Andreia Ribeiro2, Lillian Barros3
1Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal; Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering (LSRE), Associate Laboratory LSRE/LCM, IPB, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1134, 5301-857 Bragança, Portugal; REQUIMTE - Science Chemical Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Abstract:
Globally, there is a trend for healthy food products, preferably incorporating natural bioactive ingredients, replacing synthetic additives. From previous screening studies, extracts of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) and Matricaria recutita L. (chamomile) maintained nutritional properties and improved the antioxidant activity of cottage cheese. Nevertheless, this effect was limited to 7 days. Accordingly, aqueous extracts of these plants were microencapsulated in alginate and incorporated into cottage cheese to achieve an extended bioactivity. Plain cottage cheese, and cheese functionalized by direct addition of free decoctions, were prepared and compared. Independently of plant species, "functionalization type" factor did not show a significant effect on the nutritional parameters, as also confirmed in the linear discriminant analysis, where these parameters were not selected as discriminating variables. Furthermore, samples functionalized with microencapsulated extracts showed higher antioxidant activity after the 7th day, thereby demonstrating that the main purpose of this experimental work was achieved.
