*Article* **Use of Electrosprayed Agave Fructans as Nanoencapsulating Hydrocolloids for Bioactives**

#### **Jorge A. Ramos-Hernández 1, Juan A. Ragazzo-Sánchez 1,\*, Montserrat Calderón-Santoyo 1, Rosa I. Ortiz-Basurto 1, Cristina Prieto 2 and Jose M. Lagaron 2**


**\*** Correspondence: jragazzo@ittepic.edu.mx or arturoragazzo@hotmail.com; Tel.: +52-311-2119400

Received: 25 September 2018; Accepted: 12 October 2018; Published: 23 October 2018

**Abstract:** High degree of polymerization Agave fructans (HDPAF) are presented as a novel encapsulating material. Electrospraying coating (EC) was selected as the encapsulation technique and β-carotene as the model bioactive compound. For direct electrospraying, two encapsulation methodologies (solution and emulsion) were proposed to find the formulation which provided a suitable particle morphology and an adequate concentration of β-carotene encapsulated in the particles to provide a protective effect of β-carotene by the nanocapsules. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed spherical particles with sizes ranging from 440 nm to 880 nm depending on the concentration of HDPAF and processing parameters. FTIR analysis confirmed the interaction and encapsulation of β-carotene with HDPAF. The thermal stability of β-carotene encapsulated in HDPAF was evidenced by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The study showed that β-carotene encapsulated in HDPAF by the EC method remained stable for up to 50 h of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Therefore, HDPAF is a viable option to formulate nanocapsules as a new encapsulating material. In addition, EC allowed for increases in the ratio of β-carotene:polymer, as well as its photostability.

**Keywords:** HDPAF; β-carotene; electrospraying; encapsulation; photoprotection
