A bioactive formulation based on the vegetative parts of the wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca L., was developed by using a microencapsulated extract (lyophilized infusion form). For that purpose, a process based on an atomization/coagulation technique with alginate as the wall material was applied. Among the tested hydromethanolic and aqueous extracts, both obtained from wild and commercial samples, the infusion of a wild species emerged as the most antioxidative one. The higher amounts of flavonols and flavan-3-ols found in the aqueous extracts seem to be responsible for this greater antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the developed bioactive formulation was applied in k-carrageenan gelatin, being observed that the antioxidant properties of the extract were preserved, as compared with the free form. Thus, the antioxidant activity of the Fragaria vesca L. vegetative parts was demonstrated, as well as the advantages of using microencapsulation to produce effective bioactive formulations.
Financial support was provided by FCT/MEC and FEDER under Programme PT2020 to LSRE (Project UID/EQU/50020/2013), CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2014) and REQUIMTE (PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2014), and QREN, ON2 and FEDER (Project NORTE-07-0162-FEDER-000050 and NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000014). M.I. Dias and L. Barros thank FCT for SFRH/BD/84485/2012 grant and research contract (Compromisso para a Ciência 2008), respectively. G. Ruphuy thanks Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones de Costa Rica (MICITT) for her scholarship. The GIP-USAL is financially supported by the Spanish Government through the project BFU2012-35228.
