Sustainable processing of Greek yogurt acid-whey waste to develop folic acid encapsulated millet powders

Abstract

Folic acid is an essential nutrient that is required to prevent anemia in women and neural tube defects in infants. Hence, it is important to develop food products that can act as a source of folic acid and are easily accessible. For product development, two encapsulation methods were used: spray drying and extrusion. The encapsulated powder was formed using the matrix of acid whey, kodo, and proso millet. The extrusion method used a folic acid-alginate solution that was dispensed in cross-linking solutions containing acid whey and millets. The objective of the paper was to analyze the developed products for shelf stability and commercial viability. Adding millets to acid whey led to a high yield and the obtained powder was free-flowing. The encapsulated capsules were stable in different pH conditions. The in vitro digestibility model indicated that both powder mix and alginate capsules were efficient sources of folic acid.