The interest in lycopene has increased in recent years due to studies that associate it with the reduction in risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and cancer. However, due to its high degree of unsaturation, this carotenoid is inclined to isomerize and oxidize during processing and storage, making it difficult to use in the food industry. Microencapsulation can improve this situation, increasing its stability and making incorporation into food formulations possible. Thus, the aim of this study was to microencapsulate lycopene by complex coacervation using gelatin and gum Arabic as the encapsulating agents. The microcapsules were evaluated based on the encapsulation efficiency and their morphology and then submitted to a stability test and applied in cake making. Most of the systems studied presented spherical microcapsules with defined walls. The encapsulation efficiency values were above 90%, and the average diameter of the capsules ranged from 61 to 144？μm. The stability test showed that microencapsulation offered greater protection to the lycopene as compared to its free form. The application of nonfreeze dried coacervated microcapsules in cake making was satisfactory, but the color transference was low when freezedried coacervated microcapsules were used. 1. Introduction Lycopene is a carotenoid that can be incorporated into foods with the purposes of conferring both color and functional characteristics, but it is quite susceptible to isomerization and oxidation [1]. A possible solution to this problem could be the use of microencapsulation, which is the most widely used technique to increase the stability of carotenoids [2]. Complex coacervation consists of spontaneous phase separation by forming an insoluble complex between two or more polymers as a result of electrostatic interactions. The composition and concentration of the wall polymer and environmental conditions such as the pH and ionic strength, amongst others, are directly related to the efficiency of microcapsule production and to the variability in structure, size, and porosity, amongst other characteristics [3]. Microcapsules produced by coacervation are heat-resistant, possessing excellent controlled-release characteristics based on mechanical stress, temperature, and sustained release [4]. Matioli and Rodriguez-Amaya [1] encapsulated lycopene by freeze drying and spray drying methods. The encapsulating agents were gum Arabic and the gum Arabic/maltodextrin pair. The longest half-life time was found for the lycopene encapsulated in gum Arabic and maltodextrin by the freeze drying
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