For centuries, garlic ( Alliums sativum ), has been used as a food condiment, as well as a product for medicinal purposes. Epidemiologic studies show an inverse correlation between garlic consumption and progression of cardiovascular diseases. It is also useful for gastrointestinal disorders. Allicin which is responsible for garlic's pungent note is released when garlic cloves are crushed and can protect the plant from the soil parasites and fungi. Since a number of garlic consumers dislike its smell, attempts have been made to find a way to cover/ musk this phenomenon in the garlic. In this regard using nanotechnology that is defined as the technology that has allowed for the control, manipulation, study, and manufacture of structures and devices in the “nanometer” size range may show promise . Nanotechnology is the ability to work on a scale of about 1–100m. In this study encapsulation of garlic nano-particles as a core material in nano-particles of corn starch was investigated. Corn starch was used as the wall material and coating was performed by spray-drying. The time required which in turn is varieds according to the type of mill, milling intensity, ball-to-powder ratio (BPR), milling temperature, and the powder system are among factors that may have effect on the performance of nano-particle production. Results indicated that the number of nano-size particles ( 100 nm) increased with milling time between 20-40 h for corn starch and 40-60 h for garlic, whereas as the ball-milling time increased, agglomeration of the particles became noticeable. Nano-powder of garlic and corn starch was successfully prepared by the mechanical alloying process using planetary high energy ball mill. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) graphs showed the best time for the ball-milling of starch is ca. 40 and for production of garlic nano-particle is about 60h. Sensory evaluation of the encapsulated garlic nano powder also indicated that most of panelists were not able to detect its note in the yoghurt. Keywords : Nano-particle, Garlic, Corn Starch, Ball Milling, Encapsulation, SEM.
