Impact of oil composition on formation and stability of emulsions produced by spontaneous emulsification

ABSTRACTIn this study, triglycerides of different chain lengths were mixed with paraffin oil, and their effectiveness in forming emulsions produced by spontaneous emulsification upon the addition of water was investigated. The emulsion droplet size exhibited a similar trend as a function of the triglyceride/paraffin oil composition for medium-chain (MCTs) (C8–C10) and long-chain (C18) triglycerides (LCTs). However, emulsions formulated with MCTs and LCTs have a much smaller droplet size (about 50 nm) than emulsions based upon short-chain (C4) triglycerides (SCTs). The addition of SCTs resulted in droplet sizes around 800 nm and the emulsions formed were very unstable. The droplet size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and emulsion stability of these systems will be described as a function of the oil phase composition.