β-Carotene nanoemulsions prepared by spontaneous emulsification process

In this study, oil-in-water nanoemulsions of β-carotene were produced by spontaneous emulsification method. The influence of different emulsion formulation including type of oil, type of emulsifiers on the properties and stability of the nanoemulsions were investigated using a Zetasizer and HPLC. Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20) and decaglycerol monolaurate (ML750) as hydrophilic emulsifiers, Sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) and soybean lecithin as lipophilic emulsifiers and palm oil and medium chain triglyceride (MCT) as oil phases were chosen in this work. The mean particle size of the nanoemulsions differed between 128 nm to 188 nm depending on the emulsifiers and oil phase used. Palm oil/ Span 80/ ML750 nanoemulsion system has the largest particles size, but it is the most stable against oxidation among all samples, while MCT/soybean lecithin/Tween 20 nanoemulsion system had the smallest particle size but it has the least β-carotene retention after 3 monthstorage due to the high specific surface area of the particles. Also the mean polydispersity index (PI) of the nanoemulsions differed between 0.11 to 0.32 in fresh product and between 0.15 to o.35 after 3 months storage. The least PI belongs to MCT/soybean lecithin/Tween 20 nanoemulsion system. This work demonstrated the importance of emulsifiers and oil phase in determining the characteristics and stability of β-carotene nanoemulsions.

Keywords:

β-carotene , Nanoemulsions , Spontaneous emulsification