**4. Conclusions**

In this paper, high degree of polymerization Agave fructans (HDPAF) are presented as a novel encapsulating material. First, their ability to form capsules by electrospraying was tested. The best results, in terms of morphology and capsule size, were obtained when concentrations of 30% and 40% of fructans were used. β-carotene was encapsulated in HDPAF by direct electrospraying and by EC. However, the EC method presented advantages in comparison with emulsion or solution direct electrospraying, since it was possible to obtain particles with higher bioactive:polymer ratios. Moreover, the particles obtained by the EC method showed good photoprotection. Results shown in this work evidence that HDPAF have the capacity to improve the stability of β-carotene. Additionally, HDPAF are appropriate for human consumption, therefore they could be a really interesting encapsulation polymer for the food industry.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization was devised by J.A.R.-S. and J.M.L.; methodology, validation, and formal analysis was carried out by J.A.R.-H., J.A.R.-S., M.C.-S., R.I.O.-B., C.P., and J.M.L.; investigation, resources, data curation, writing—original draft preparation and writing—review and editing was performed by J.A.R.-H., J.A.R.-S., M.C.-S., R.I.O.-B., C.P., and J.M.L.; visualization, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition was carried out by J.A.R.-S. and J.M.L.

**Funding:** This research was funded by MINECO project gran<sup>t</sup> number AGL2015-63855-C2-1-R.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to thank the "Plan de Movilidad AGARED 2017" ("AGARED-Red Temática Mexicana Aprovechamiento Integral Sustentable y Biotecnología de los Agaves"; the MINECO project AGL2015-63855-C2-1-R for funding and the CONACYT (Mexico) for the scholarship granted to Jorge Alberto Ramos-Hernández.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
