Investigation of physicochemical properties of Echium amoenum flower extract produced with different carriers by spray drying method

In this research, the effect of inlet air temperature (130 and 160°C), type and composition of carriers (maltodextrin, Arabic gum and whey protein concentrate (WPC)) on yield, moisture, bulk density and impact, solubility, wettability, flowability (angle of repose) and hygroscopicity of spray dried borage flower extract were investigated. In all tests, atomizer speed, feed flow rate, feed temperature, and atomizer air pressure were kept constant at 18000 rpm, 10 ml/min, 30 ± 1 °C, and 4 ± 0.1 bar, respectively. The minimum significant difference was calculated at less than (P<0.05) using SPSS software. The results showed that the highest production efficiency (48%) was achieved in dried samples with the combination of maltodextrin and WPC. While the use of protein as a carrier led to a decrease in the amount of moisture, mass and impact density, solubility, wettability and hygroscopicity of particles. The optimization results using the estimated models indicated that the highest solubility and the lowest hygroscopicity are created in the powder dried at 130 degrees Celsius with maltodextrin and arabic gum carriers.