OLIGOSACCHARIDE ENCAPSULATED MINERAL AND VITAMIN INGREDIENTS

A mineral or vitamin fortification ingredient which does not deleteriously affect palatability and appearance of foods is obtained by encapsulation of the mineral or vitamin in a grindable, glassy matrix composition. The glassy matrix composition includes an oligosaccharide, which not only forms a glassy matrix, but also beneficially increases the fiber content of the food. At least one edible oil is included in the encapsulating composition to prevent substantial adverse interaction between the mineral or vitamin encapsulant and the glass-forming oligosaccharide matrix material, and to achieve controlled release of the encapsulant from the glassy matrix. The oil also reduces or eliminates the use of added water as a plasticizer. In the fortification of foods with calcium, absoption of calcium into the bloods stream is substantially enhanced by the glass-forming oligosaccharide matrix material such as fructooligosaccharides and inulin as well as by medium chain triglycerides (MCT) and lactose. The fortification ingredient may be produced by melting the one or more glass-forming matrix components such as inulin or other oligosaccharides, and optional sugar, in the presence of optionally added water. The resulting melt may then be combined with an oil-slurried mineral and/or vitamin encapsulant and cooled to obtain a formable, pliable molter mass. The mass may be extruded and cut into pieces or pellets and cooled to obtained a grindable, glassy matrix which encapsulates the oil encapsulated mineral or vitamin. The encapsulated minerals and/or vitamins may be ground into a particulate composition such as a fine powder for direct incorporation into or for topical application onto foods such as ready-to-eat cereals, yogurt and fruit snacks. L'invention concerne un ingrédient d'enrichissement minéral ou d'enrichissement en vitamine qui n'affecte pas de façon délétère l'appétibilité et l'apparence des aliments et qui est obtenu par encapsulation du minéral ou de la vitamine dans une composition de matrice vitreuse broyable. Cette composition comprend un oligosaccharide, tel que des matières fructofuranoses beta -2-1, de préférence, des fructooligosaccharides (FOS) et de l'inuline, qui forme non seulement une matrice vitreuse, mais qui augmente aussi de façon bénéfique la teneur en fibre brute de l'aliment. Au moins une huile comestible est intégrée à la composition d'encapsulation afin de prévenir une interaction négative importante entre le minéral ou la vitamin