Chen, DongZhao, Chun-XiaLagoin, CamilleHai, MingtanArriaga, Laura R.Koehler, StephanAbbaspourrad, AlirezaWeitz, David2018-02-262017Chen, Dong, Chun-Xia Zhao, Camille Lagoin, Mingtan Hai, Laura R. Arriaga, Stephan Koehler, Alireza Abbaspourrad, and David A. Weitz. 2017. “Dispersing hydrophobic natural colourant β-carotene in shellac particles for enhanced stability and tunable colour.” Royal Society Open Science 4 (12): 170919. doi:10.1098/rsos.170919. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170919.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:34869064Colour is one of the most important visual attributes of food and is directly related to the perception of food quality. The interest in natural colourants, especially β-carotene that not only imparts colour but also has well-documented health benefits, has triggered the research and development of different protocols designed to entrap these hydrophobic natural molecules to improve their stability against oxidation. Here, we report a versatile microfluidic approach that uses single emulsion droplets as templates to prepare microparticles loaded with natural colourants. The solution of β-carotene and shellac in the solvent is emulsified by microfluidics into droplets. Upon solvent diffusion, β-carotene and shellac co-precipitates, forming solid microparticles of β-carotene dispersed in the shellac polymer matrix. We substantially improve the stability of β-carotene that is protected from oxidation by the polymer matrix and achieve different colour appearances by loading particles with different β-carotene concentrations. These particles demonstrate great promise for practical use in natural food colouring.en-USmicrofluidicsmicroencapsulationcolourantβ-carotenemicroparticleJournal Article2018-02-2610.1098/rsos.170919