Date of Publication :22nd November 2021

Abstract: Bioactive compounds in foods are a growing area of research in today’s world due to the lifestyle diseases and its numerous health benefits. There are a wide variety of compounds that can be incorporated into foods and encapsulation is one of the most successful methods. Electrospinning is said to be the best methods for obtaining nanofibers through encapsulation which can find its way directly into any nutraceutical and functional foods. Even when electrospinning is the most efficient option, the high cost stands as a limitation. So, the purpose of our project work was to design and develop a low cost electrospinning apparatus suitable for emulsions. The work involved setting and fabricating the components of electrospinning and assembling them to produce the desired results. Different approaches were taken and an Arduino controlled programmable syringe pump, high voltage power supply using flyback driver and MOSFET, and Aluminum plane plate collectors were fabricated at a low cost. Any kind of emulsion based bioactive compounds can be encapsulated using the device developed and we have used omega-3 enriched fish oil emulsion. Fish oil emulsions possesses large advantages but has limited applications due to oxidation. Therefore, electrospinning stands as the best approach for preserving the stability and availability of fish oil. The successful system validation was done using PVA and later fish oil, was successfully encapsulated and nanofibers were obtained. The nanofibers can be incorporated into infant foods and formulations which can be widely used.

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