Abstract
Introduction
Pomelo
Materials and Methods
Materials
Pomelo essential oil was provided by AOTA Ltd company. Chemicals used for this study were purchased at Xilong Chemical Company in China, including sodium alginate (NaC6H7O6, purity as 99%), calcium chloride (CaCl2, purity as 95%), trisodium citrate dihydrate (C6H5Na3O7.2H2O, purity as 99%), tween 80 (C64H124O26, purity as 98%), chitosan (purity as 98%), acetic acid (CH3COOH, purity as 99%), hexane (C6H14, purity as 99%), sodium hydroxide (NaOH, purity as 98%).
Process of Encapsulation of Pomelo Essential Oil Using Alginate/Chitosan Complexes
Initially, the sodium alginate solution was diluted to a concentration of 2% ‒ 3.5% (w/v based on the volume of mixture), and the pH was adjusted to 4 with sodium hydroxide solution (with a concentration of 5 M) and acetic acid solution (with a concentration of 0.5 M). Next, the emulsifier Tween 80 (concentration 0% ‒ 20% w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials) was added to the sodium alginate solution and stirred well. Then, the mixture was homogenized with pomelo essential oil (a concentration of 20% ‒ 40% w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials) with different homogenization times (about 10, 15, and 20 min) and homogenization speeds from 489, 1957, and 4402 × g. The emulsion was formed into capsules using a 25G×1” syringe containing the sample to be dropped into a well-stirred calcium chloride bath (with a concentration of 0.5% ‒ 3.5%). After 30 min, the capsule was rinsed with distilled water, left to dry for about 5 min, then stirred in chitosan solution. In particular, this chitosan solution was prepared with a concentration of 0.5% ‒ 2% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) in the solution of acid acetic 1% (by volume), and the pH was adjusted similarly to the sodium alginate solution (with pH values of 4, 5, and 6) and remained stable for 12 h. The capsule was removed after 60 min, drained, and analyzed. All experiments were conducted at room temperature (25 °C ± 3 °C).
Determination of Encapsulation Yields
Encapsulation yield was determined similarly to the study by Soliman et al, 2013 using photometric methods.
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0.5 gram of the capsules were put into a beaker, and 2.5 ml of acetic acid 1% along with 2.5 ml of trisodium citrate solution (0.055 M) were added. After that, the capsule was crushed, 15 ml of hexane was added, and the mixture was stirred. After 30 min, the mixture was centrifuged for 10 min at 1252 × g. The top solution layer was taken for photometric measurement and was calculated the encapsulation efficiency (EY%) according to the formula equation (1):
F: the concentration of pomelo essential oil (mg/mL) was calculated based on the standard curve of pomelo essential oil dissolved in hexane at different concentrations from 0 to 10 mg/ml. Absorbance was determined at 340 nm according to Soliman et al (2013). 17 The standard curve equation of pomelo essential oil was y = 0.0035x + 0.0003, R2 = 0.9984.
V: the volume of hexane (mL).
m1: the mass of microencapsulated particles obtained (g).
m0: the initial mass of essential oil added to the system (g)
Determination of Encapsulation Efficiency
According to the report of the authors Sutaphanit et al, 2014 the encapsulation efficiency index was determined by photometric methods.
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0.5 gram of the capsules were placed in a beaker, and the surface oil was removed with 5 ml of distilled water and 5 ml of hexane. After that, 2.5 ml of acetic acid 1% and 2.5 ml of trisodium citrate solution 0.055 M were added and crushed. Next, 15 ml of hexane was added to the mixture and stirred for 30 min. This mixture was centrifuged for 10 min at 1252 × g. The top liquid was aspirated and optically measured to calculate the encapsulation efficiency (EE%) index according to the formula equation (2):
F': the essential oil concentration measured after washing the surface oil (mg/mL).
F: the total essential oil concentration (mg/mL) calculated from the standard curve equation of pomelo essential oil as y = 0.0035x + 0.0003, R2 = 0.9984.
Statistical Analysis
Each experiment was repeated three times. Excel 2016 for Microsoft Office was used to process experimental data. Study results were shown as mean ± SD. ANOVA and LSD analysis for each experiment were performed through Statgraphics XV software with a 95% confidence level.
Results
Physical Properties of Pomelo Essential Oil
Essential oil color: colorless, transparent, shiny.
The smell of essential oil: fragrant mixed with the strong smell of the peel, light, cool.
Essential oil taste: pungent, astringent, and gradually turning bitter.
Density: 0.8396.
Refractive index: 1.469
Effect of Sodium Alginate and Pomelo Essential Oil Concentrations
The effects of sodium alginate solution and pomelo essential oil concentration on encapsulation yields and encapsulation efficiency are shown the result in Figure 1.

The effect of sodium alginate and pomelo essential oil concentrations.
The effects of sodium alginate and pomelo essential oil concentrations had a statistically significant on the EY and EE index at the 95% confidence level (p < 0.05) through ANOVA analysis. LSD analysis showed that the EY value at 20% essential oil concentration was different from the remaining treatments. Additionally, with alginate concentrations, there also were differences between the 2.5% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) treatment and the other treatments. Figure 1 shows that the EY and EE indexes reached their highest values when the concentration of pomelo essential oil was 30% (w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials), and the sodium alginate concentration was 3% (w/v based on the volume of mixture), with EY% as 67.01% and EE% as 90.97%.
Effect of Tween 80 Emulsifier Concentrations
Figure 2 shows the influence of a tween 80 concentration on EY and EE indexes.

The effect of Tween 80 concentration on the EY and EE indexes.
The effect of tween 80 concentration was significant on EY and EE index at 95% confidence level (p < 0.05) through ANOVA analysis. Based on LSD analysis, The EE and EY% values at Tween 80 concentrations were all different from each other (p < 0.05). Figure 2 presents that when increasing the concentration of tween 80 from 0% to 15% (w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials), the EY and EE indexes increased. This could be explained by the fact that surface tension helped ensure the stability of the particles.
Effect of CaCl2 Concentration
The effect of CaCl2 concentration on EY and EE indexes was shown in Figure 3.

The effect of CaCl2 concentration on the indicators.
The CaCl2 solution concentration was significant effects on EY and EE values at a 95% confidence level (p < 0.05) through ANOVA analysis. LSD analysis showed that EY and EE values at different CaCl2 solution concentrations were different. According to Figure 3, when CaCl2 concentration increased from 0.5% to 1.5% (w/v based on the volume of mixture), the EY value increased (from 36.22% to 86.39%) but decreased at CaCl2 concentration of 3.5% (w/v based on the volume of mixture). The EE value did not change significantly when increasing the CaCl2 concentration.
From the above experimental results, the encapsulation yield and encapsulation efficiency was highest at the CaCl2 solution concentration of 1.5% (w/v based on the volume of mixture), with 86.39% and 80.79%, respectively.
Effects the Time and Speed of Emulsion Homogenization
The effect of time and speed of homogenization on EY and EE indexes was shown in Figure 4.

The effect of time and speed homogenization on the indicators.
Through ANOVA analysis, emulsion homogenization time and speed significantly affected the EE and EY index at the 95% confidence level (p < 0.05). LSD analysis showed that EY and EE values at the 20-min homogenization time differed from the remaining times (p < 0.05). EY and EE indexes reached the highest value at a homogenization speed of 4402 × g and a homogenization time of 10 min (with EY as 88.06% and EE as 82.79%). Based on Figure 4, both EE and EY indexes tended to increase when increasing the homogenization time to 15 min but decreased in the homogenization time as 20 min.
Effect of Concentration and pH of Chitosan Solution
Figure 5 shows the effect of the concentration of chitosan and the pH of the chitosan solution on EY and EE indexes.

The effect of concentration and pH of the chitosan solution.
ANOVA analysis showed that the pH of the chitosan solution has a statistically significant effect on the EY index at a 95% confidence level (p < 0.05), and the concentration of the chitosan solution has a statistically significant effect on the EE index at the 95% confidence level (p < 0.05). Additionally, LSD results showed that the EE (%) and EY (%) values at different chitosan concentrations and chitosan solution pHs were different (p < 0.05). Based on Figure 5, the EY and EE values reached the highest values of 91.64% and 85.18% when using a concentration of chitosan solution as 2% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) and pH of chitosan solution as 5.
The Visualization of Pomelo Essential Oil Encapsulated Capsules
Capsules used for visualization evaluation were synthesized with sodium alginate as 3% (w/v), chitosan as 2% (w/v) at pH 5, emulsifier tween 80 concentration as 15% (w/w), CaCl2 concentration as 1.5% (w/w), and pomelo essential oil concentration as 30% (w/w). Homogenization process would be performed for 10 min at 4402 × g.
The capsules had the appearance as shown in Figure 6. They were milky white, round, or spherical, and the particles produced had a certain hardness.

Visualization of pomelo essential oil encapsulated capsules.
Discussions
Effect of Sodium Alginate and Pomelo Essential Oil Concentrations
At the same sodium alginate concentration, EY and EE indexes tended to increase with increasing pomelo essential oil concentration. However, when sodium alginate concentration increased, these indicators tended to decrease. This was explained as increasing sodium alginate concentration also increases sodium concentration. It helped form a thick, stable network structure that covers all the essential oils added during the homogenization process. In addition, the decrease in the EE index was due to the increase in space occupied by alginate. This caused a decrease in free volume in the polymer matrix and led to a decrease in the amount of essential oil retained in the pores.19,20 For high essential oil concentrations, the amount of sodium alginate was not enough to cover the oil droplets completely and prevent them from clumping together. 21 Free oil droplets would stick to the particle surface, which led to a decrease in encapsulation efficiency.
The report of Chan et al (2011) also showed similar results to this study. 22 Therefore, the following experiments were conducted with a sodium alginate concentration of 3% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) and a pomelo essential oil concentration of 30% (w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials).
Effect of Tween 80 Emulsifier Concentrations
As the Tween 80 concentration increased, the surface tension decreased, leading to a decrease in droplet sizes and an increase in EY and EE values. 23 On the other hand, when continuing to increase to 20% (w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials), the values of the EE and EY indexes decreased because the surfactants had absorbed enough onto the surface layer, and they tended to leave the surface into the liquid. 24 This resulted in decreased EY and EE indexes.
From the above experimental results, EY and EE indexes have the highest value (90.52%) at the Tween 80 concentration of 15% (w/w based on dry matter of wall marerials). Similar to the studies of Guttoff et al (2015), emulsifier Tween was a nonionic surfactant with an HLB higher than 10, with higher HLB numbers, lipophilic surfactants forming oil droplets smaller at the phase boundary. 25
Effect of CaCl2 Concentration
When the CaCl2 concentration was low, the emulsion after homogenization dropping into the CaCl2 reservoir did not have enough conditions to create cross-linking between alginate ions and calcium in a matrix, and bioactive compounds would easily be lost. 26 On the contrary, increasing the concentration of CaCl2 led to increase the amount of Ca2+ ions in the solution, creating more cross-links between alginate chains, helping the system have a thick, sturdy structure, and the resulting particles were better coated. This helped limit bioactive compound loss in the core of particles. 27 But when increasing the CaCl2 concentration above the threshold, the system would reduce its mechanical strength due to loss of cross-linking and unstable structure. Essential oils would be lost from the capsules and mixed into the CaCl2 solution tank, leading to a reduction in the formation of pores in the alginate matrix during granulation and reduced encapsulation efficiency. 28
This result was similar to the report of Yousefi et al (2020), in which sodium alginate at a concentration of 1.42% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) and CaCl2 at a concentration of 1.28% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) had the highest EE% values. An increased CaCl2 concentration that was too high would also lead to the diffusion of more Ca + 2 ions into the space of the polymer matrix and displaced drug molecules, leading to a decrease in EE%. 29
Effects the Time and Speed of Emulsion Homogenization
This was explained by the fact that when the speed and time of homogenization increased, the emulsion became more stable by providing more energy to break the particles into smaller particles. 30 However, when the homogenization time lasted too long, it would lead to a decrease in the amount of essential oil entering the emulsion due to the evaporation of the essential oil. 31 In addition, longer homogenization time also increased the collision of particles, leading to agglomeration to form larger-sized particles under the effect of Vander Walls's force. 32 Therefore, the homogenization process should be carried out with a time and homogenization speed that should not exceed the critical value, but they must still be large enough to create a stable emulsion, avoiding phase separation and loss of essential oils. 33
The results obtained from this study were consistent with the research results of Gupta et al (2017). 34 Therefore, a homogenization time of 10 min and a homogenization speed of 4402 × g were chosen for the following experiment.
Effect of Concentration and pH of Chitosan Solution
This could be explained by the fact that the pH value of 5 was close to the
Research results on the effect of concentration and pH of chitosan solution were consistent with the report by Bastos et al (2018), with the appropriate pH range of chitosan used in the microencapsulation process being pH 4 ‒ 5. 37 Therefore, a chitosan solution with a concentration of 2% (w/v based on the volume of mixture) and a pH value of 5 was appropriate for creating capsules.
Conclusion
Appropriate parameters for the encapsulation process of pomelo peel essential oil
