The mucilage from lemon basil ( Ocimum × africanum Lour) seeds serves as an excellent food hydrocolloid and can be extracted using ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE). Previously, the seeds were soaked in deionized water at a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:40 (w/w) before applying UAE. The extract contained only 0.6 g of solid per 100 g of solution. Despite its high viscosity of 70 mPa·s, the mucilage was successfully turned into a powder, with a moisture content below 2% (w/w) through spray drying. Maltodextrin at 15% (w/w) was added as a carrier during spray drying to improve solid recovery. However, the initial results showed no significant improvement in solid recovery; the physical properties of the extract needed clarification. In the preliminary study, the SEM micrographs revealed that the addition of maltodextrin altered the shape and increased the particle size of the powder.
To estimate the effect of maltodextrin, other physical properties, such as water and oil absorption capacity, emulsification stability, and dispersion stability, of the spray-dried powder were also measured. Furthermore, the rheology of the extracted and rehydrated mucilage was examined in this work.