Microencapsulation of bromelain from pineapple extract powder by industrially scalable complex coacervation

An industrially scalable complex coacervation process (referred to as the CoCo process) enables the formation of dry complex coacervated microcapsules in one step using a low-cost spray drying approach. Here, we demonstrated the feasibility of maintaining the activity of an enzyme directly coacervated with alginates in dry powder particles by the CoCo process. As a proof of concept, bromelain, an enzyme mixture extracted from pineapple, was used to form bromelain-alginate complex coacervated (CoCo) powder. The proteolytic activity of bromelain was fully recovered from the bromelain-alginate CoCo powder, with approximately 40% of the protein coacervated with alginate. Preservation of enzyme activity by the CoCo process demonstrates the potential for scalable, cost-effective application of enzymes in foods, as well as nutraceutical, household, and industrial products. •Industrially-scalable complex coacervation (CoCo) process preserves enzyme activity.•Complex coacervation with alginates by spray drying retained bromelain activity.•Enzymes can be both payload and matrix polymer in the CoCo process.