## 4 Discussion  
The goal of this study was to establish possible improvements in the encapsulation of chokeberry polyphenols by ionic gelation through modification of the encapsulation mixture composition. Alginate is the most commonly used polymer for encapsulation in this process, so we modified the encapsulation mixture with the addition of pullulan or/and two disaccharides, namely sucrose or trehalose. The encapsulation mixture contains mostly water, so its presence and interactions with added encapsulation polymers and disaccharides, as well as with phenolic compounds, played an important part in the encapsulation of phenolic compounds. The fact that there is more available water ensures conditions that are the driving force for the conduction of diffusion-limited reactions. Additionally, oxidation and molecular mobility are also enhanced due to the higher content of water, and all of these reactions result in the degradation of sensitive components such are phenolic compounds. Anthocyanines are especially sensitive to water. The glycosidic bond in the structure of anthocyanins can be hydrolyzed, leading to the generation of unstable anthocyanins. Usually, afterward, the opening of the pyrilium ring occurs, which causes the generation of chalcones and brown end compounds [40]. Additionally, if oxygen is present, water causes an increase in the oxidation rate of anthocyanins. Combining different polysaccharides in the mixture can lead to potential synergistic effects that are favorable for specific applications [41]. Alginate and pullulan differ in their structure and their behavior in water. While alginate \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **TP** & **PAC** & **FRAP** & **CUPRAC** & **DPPH** & **ABTS** & **ANT** & **PA** & **Q-3-R** \\ \hline
**TP** & \(1\) & & & & & & & & \\
**PAC** & 0.9996 & \(1\) & & & & & & & \\
**FRAP** & 0.9957 & 0.9951 & \(1\) & & & & & & \\
**CUPRAC** & 0.9961 & 0.9976 & 0.9911 & \(1\) & & & & & \\
**DPPH** & 0.7878 & 0.8079 & 0.7635 & 0.8131 & \(1\) & & & & \\
**ABTS** & 0.9622 & 0.9586 & 0.9641 & 0.9567 & 0.6426 & \(1\) & & & \\
**ANT** & 0.4130 & 0.4111 & 0.4133 & 0.3711 & 0.3525 & 0.3665 & \(1\) & & \\
**PA** & \(-\)0.4104 & \(-\)0.4088 & \(-\)0.4171 & \(-\)0.3698 & \(-\)0.3260 & \(-\)0.3719 & \(-\)0.9932 & \(1\) & \\
**Q-3-R** & \(-\)0.0531 & \(-\)0.0519 & \(-\)0.0304 & \(-\)0.0437 & \(-\)0.2028 & \(-\)0.0210 & \(-\)0.1306 & 0.0804 & \(1\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* TP: total polyphenols content; PAC: proanthocyanidins content; ANT: sum of anthocyanins concentrations; PA: sum of phenolic acids concentrations; Q-3-R: quercetin-3-rutinoside.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Correlation between investigated parameters. dissolved in water has a more open, rigid chain structure, pullulan is characterized by a high-flexibility chain structure due to the \(\alpha\)-(1,6) linkage [41; 42; 43]. As was already mentioned in the Introduction, the alginate hydrogel network is characterized by a highly porous structure, so other polymers and/or fillers are often used to reduce diffusion through the alginate network, where these compounds usually serve as a barrier in order to block the transport of components from beads to surroundings [17; 18; 19; 20]. In previous studies, it was observed that a higher concentration of total polysaccharides in an encapsulation mixture could result in the higher preservation of anthocyanins [19; 20], which was also observed in this study, since alginate/pullulan hydrogel beads had a higher concentration of anthocyanins. Diffusion of anthocyanins within the gel network can be correlated to diffusion in porous media, so this phenomenon is linked with the porosity of hydrogel beads. The addition of extra polysaccharides in the mixture enhances the gelation rate prior to the setting of hydrogel, causing a decrease in the diffusion rate of anthocyanins in surrounding media through a reduction in the porosity after hydrogel is formed [19]. Through microencapsulation, physicochemical interactions occurred.