Stability of encapsulated olive oil in the presence of caffeic acid

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of microencapsulation and addition of the phenolic antioxidant caffeic acid (CA) on the storage stability of olive oil. Olive oil in the absence or presence of 300 ppm CA was encapsulated in 1.5% w/w sodium alginate shells. Encapsulated oil (with/without added CA) and unencapsulated oil were stored at 20 or 37 °C for 30 days and then subjected to stability and quality evaluation based on peroxide value (PV), p-anisidine value (p-AV), Totox value, free fatty acid (FFA), total extractable phenolic content (TEPC), and fatty acid composition. The CA addition increased the stability and TPC of the final oil product. Oxidation changes were generally slower in the encapsulated oil samples. Both encapsulation and addition of CA preserved unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) including C18:1 (omega-9 FA), C18:2 (omega-6 FA) and C18:3 (omega-3 FA). We conclude that the current oil encapsulation method using alginate microspheres could be a feasible approach to increasing olive oil stability. The addition of CA to olive oil not only provides additional protection to the oil, but also improves the nutritional values of the final oil product in terms of elevated TEPC and desired UFAs.