Fluid Bed Coating and Its Food Applications

Abstract

There are various food-processing technologies with the aim of protecting foodstuffs from environmental factors and increasing their shelf life. One of these is encapsulation technology, which has recently been used with an increased interest. With the fluidized bed coating, which is one of the physical methods used for encapsulation, the solid core materials are fluidized via the air stream and a film layer is formed on the surface of the core material with the coating material. The applicability of the fluid bed coating technique, as well as particulate properties, is significantly influenced by process variables used in the system, environmental variables and thermodynamic factors. The release characteristics of capsules formed during the process can be changed by various mechanisms such as heating, dissolution, mechanical or chemical fracture etc. and controlled release can be achieved. The fluidized bed coating method not only has the advantage of controlled release but also provides a homogeneous powder product, reduction of fine particles, development of transport and storage facilities, protection of reactive components, and prevention unwanted taste and odour. In this study, researches on fluid bed coating mechanism, fluid bed coating systems and applications of fluid bed systems in the food industry have been reviewed.