Research progress in emulsification/internal gelation technology for the preparation of alginate microcapsules

Emulsification/internal gelation is a newly developed method for encapsulation in recent years. As all reagents and solvents used during the microcapsule preparation are nontoxic, the emulsification / internal gelation method has been adapted to encapsulate sensitive bioactive substances in biotechnology, food and medicine industries. In this paper, it was described the encapsulation mechanism of emulsification/internal gelation, compared these differences between emulsification/internal gelation and emulsification/external gelation, discussed important formulation parameters during the process, and summarized its applications in different sensitive bioactive substances. Finally, the development of this technique in the future was prospected.