Posted by Developing natural, safe, and biocompatible emulsion stabilizers for highly stable emulsions remains a difficult challenge. In this study, stable nano-scale emulsions were prepared using γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD), sodium caseinate (SC), and alginate (Alg) as emulsifiers dissolved in the aqueous phase, and curcumin dissolved in corn oil as oily phase. The synergistic stabilization of γ-CD/SC/Alg enabled the emulsions to remain stable even under high-acidic (pH 3.0), high-alkaline (pH 11.0) and high temperature (90 °C) conditions. The improved stability at acidic conditions was attributed to the positive impact of Alg. Additionally, the rheological measurements showed that the emulsions exhibited elastic gel networks and a more stable emulsion structure was formed with the increasing addition of γ-CD. Finally, the gastrointestinal behavior of the emulsions was studied using a standardized INFOGEST method. Results showed that most of the oil were digested and absorbed in the small intestine, and the bioaccessibility of curcumin was high. This work provided a new solution to prepare stable emulsions which could be used as dairy products or desirable food delivery systems for hydrophobic bioactive agents.
Chenxi Wang, Xiaojing Li, Shangyuan Sang, David Julian McClements, Long Chen, Jie Long, Aiquan Jiao, Jinpeng Wang, Zhengyu Jin, Chao Qiu: Preparation, characterization and in vitro digestive behaviors of emulsions synergistically stabilized by γ-cyclodextrin/sodium caseinate/alginate. Food Research International, 2022, 111634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111634.