Impact of maltodextrin and gum Arabic ratio on freeze dried microencapsulated extract of microgreen kangkong (Ipomoea reptans Poir)

Kangkong (Ipomoea reptans Poir) is widely consumed in Southeast Asia and possesses pivotal health benefits. Microgreen kangkong can be a potential alternative to meet nutritional requirements as it contains higher concentrations of bioactive compounds than mature plants. The study aimed to determine the effect of the ratio of maltodextrin and gum Arabic as encapsulants on the physicochemical characteristics of microgreen kangkong extract microcapsules. Encapsulation is applied to protect certain substances, including bioactive compounds, resulting in their good stability and bioavailability. Microgreen kangkong extract was encapsulated using the freeze-drying technique with varying concentration ratios between maltodextrin and gum arabic 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 20:80. The results showed that the increase in gum arabic concentration provided better chemical characteristics; however, this resulted in high water content. Extract with a concentration of maltodextrin and gum arabic 20:80 exhibited the foremost chemical characteristics than other treatments, with solubility, encapsulation efficiency, total phenol, total flavonoid, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity of 97.35%, 86.85%, 82.70 mg GAE/10 g microcapsules, 43.42 mg QE/10 g microcapsules, 0.38 M/10 g microcapsules, and IC₅₀ of 535.37 mg/L respectively. Based on the evaluation of both chemical and physical properties, the 20:80 maltodextrin to gum arabic ratio is considered as the optimal formulation due to its balance between bioactive retention and acceptable physical characteristics. This formulation demonstrates potential as a dry, bioactive-rich ingredient for functional food or nutraceutical applications and introduces microgreen kangkong as a novel source for microencapsulation matrices.