PrimeCap for Nutraceutical Applications

Encapsulated Ingredients are employed in a wide range of food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications to control ingredient interactions and mask objectionable flavors by isolating an ingredient from its environment until release or interaction is desired. This allows the creation of new and uniquely functional products that only controlled release ingredients can achieve.

Now sought after functionality that seemed unachievable using conventional ingredients are attainable using PrimeCAP® Ingredient and Encapsulation technologies by IFP, Inc.

Delivery of nutrients via conventional foods has been a growing business since the late 1980’s. – Consumers have an ever growing appreciation for the beneficial impact of consuming nutrient enhanced foods and beverages, on their lifestyle and avoidance of chronic health issues.

Manufacturers of foods and beverages have an appreciation for the premium prices that they can command for the relatively modest cost of the nutrients. These same producers have an equal appreciation for the fact that while consumers are willing to pay a premium, but they are not willing to trade-down on taste, texture, appearance, odor, or shelf-life of their enhanced products – so encapsulated nutrient forms are often the solution to maintain sensory properties while isolating the negative properties (interaction and off-taste) of the desirable nutrients.

The most common commercially available fluid-bed encapsulated ingredients include:

Ascorbic Acid, Caffeine, Citric Acid, Fumaric Acid, GDL, SALP, SAPP, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sorbic Acid, and Sugar, as well as a wide range of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, bio-actives) and individual and ingredient blends encapsulated to meet specific application needs.

Now sought after functionality that seemed unachievable using conventional ingredients are attainable using PrimeCAP® Ingredient and Encapsulation Solutions.

Not all Encapsulated Ingredients Are Equal

There are multiple forms of Encapsulation, each with their own physical attributes, performance and cost advantages and disadvantages. The most common forms of encapsulation in the food industry include spray-chill coating, and fluid-bed encapsulation:

Spray-chill Coating is a low-cost coating process used in the food industry. The coated particles have a non-uniform, single-shell coating, which can be subject to leaking and physical abrasion cracking. Pump variations can also create variations in coating thickness. This can expose the core active to react with other ingredients. This can be critical in higher moisture systems. Active payloads are typically under 50%, and most typically 33%.

Fluid-bed Encapsulation is a process that applies multiple-layers of coating onto an active ingredient. Such a barrier can provide a high and consistent level of protection through high physical stress handling conditions as well as higher moisture environments. IFP’s innovative and patented (Patent # 6,312,521) fluidbed encapsulation technology takes our ingredients to an elevated level of cost-effective performance where high levels of performance are required. Payloads are typically 50% to 90%.