Vitamin C stability in encapsulated green West Indian cherry juice and in encapsulated synthetic ascorbic acid

Kinetic studies on the degradation of vitamin C and nonenzymatic browning of green West Indian cherry juice and synthetic ascorbic acid, encapsulated in maltodextrin DE20 and a mixture of this with gum arabic, were carried out at different temperatures (15, 25, 35 and 45 °C). Vitamin C degradation followed the first‐order and nonenzymatic browning a zero‐order kinetic model. At higher storage temperatures the formulation containing a mixture of maltodextrin and gum arabic (3:1) was the most effective for vitamin C protection. An increase in storage temperature showed a greater impact on the degradation of synthetic vitamin C than on that of the green West Indian cherry juice. These differences could be due to the presence of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity, protecting the vitamin C. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry