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The food industry faces challenges in maintaining food quality, preservation, and safety. Chemical preservatives like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate can change the odor, taste, and texture of fruit juices. So, there is consumer demand for safe and eco-friendly food preservatives which are of natural origin. Therefore, in the present study, oregano essential oil–based nanoemulsion has been prepared for use as a natural preservative. Oregano essential oil (OEO)-based nanoemulsion was prepared using of oregano essential oil, Tween80, and water by ultrasonic emulsification. The average droplet diameter of the stable formulated nanoemulsion was 22 nm with polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.107 and spherical morphology. The optimized formulation showed significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, affecting membrane permeability and causing bacterial death and lysis. To test whether the antibacterial activity would translate to food systems, antibacterial activity of selected oregano oil nanoemulsion in fresh fruit juice (mango) was determined using sodium benzoate as positive control. The shelf life of the mango juice was extended up to 120 h by incorporating oregano essential oil nanoemulsion. The nanoemulsion exhibited better antimicrobial activity at 4 °C storage than at 25 °C. This study suggests that oregano oil nanoemulsion could be used as a natural preservative for preserving fruit juice from microbial spoilage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present scenario, much of the attention has been put on the production and utilization of Pickering emulsions deciphering enhanced stability and applicability over wide environmental conditions. In this context the present study was carried out to elaborate effect of different wall materials and pH systems on the physicochemical, structural and morphological properties of Himalayan walnut oil Pickering emulsions by ultrasonic emulsification. In this study, concentrated Pickering emulsion of Himalayan walnut oil (HWO) was prepared utilizing soy protein isolate (SPI), maltodextrin (MD) stabilized by pectin at varying concentrations and pH systems (4.0, 7.0). With increase in pectin and SPI concentration and lowering MD, stable emulsions were obtained as deciphered by an Emulsion stability index (ESI) of 100 for 7 days at ambient storage. HWO Pickering emulsions were analysed for particle size measurements (2.13–13.64 µm) and depicted negative zeta potential values (−3.70 to −18.58). Lyophilized HWO microcapsules depicted moderate encapsulation efficiency (44.69–57.63 %) whereas the hygroscopicity values of the microcapsule ranged from (0.21–12.10 %). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the samples depicted the temperature of maximum degradation rate up to 550 °C whereas XRD spectra depicted amorphous nature of oil microcapsules. FTIR spectra revealed a close association between the SPI-MD-Pectin matrix. SEM analysis revealed stable oil globules entrapped in protein-polysaccharide matrix with no visible cracks and fissures.

Bacterial infection is a thorny problem, and it is of great significance to developing green and efficient biological antibacterial agents that can replace antibiotics. This study aimed to rapidly prepare a new type of green antibacterial nanoemulsion containing silver nanoparticles in one step by using Blumea balsamifera oil (BBO) as an oil phase and tea saponin (TS) as a natural emulsifier and reducing agent. The optimum preparation conditions of the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE were determined, as well as its physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity in vitro being investigated. The results showed that the average particle size of the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE was 249.47 ± 6.23 nm, the PDI was 0.239 ± 0.003, and the zeta potential was −35.82 ± 4.26 mV. The produced AgNPs@BBO-TS NE showed good stability after centrifugation and 30-day storage. Moreover, the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE had an excellent antimicrobial effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These results demonstrated that the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE produced in this study can be used as an efficient and green antibacterial agent in the biomedical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the influencing factors of infective endophthalmitis after cataract phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation and establish a predictive model. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 12,308 cataract patients admitted to our hospital from February 2015 to February 2023, and all patients underwent phacoemulsification of cataract combined with intraocular lens implantation surgery, and the occurrence of postoperative infectious endophthalmitis was statistically counted. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the influencing factors of infective endophthalmitis after cataract phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation. The predictive model was constructed according to the regression model, and the predictive efficiency of the predictive model was verified by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Infectious endophthalmitis occurred in 32 of 12 308 patients (0.26%). The results of univariate analysis showed that the infection group was older than the control group (P<0.05), the proportion of diabetes mellitus, operation time≥30 min, incision≥3.2 mm, PMMA implantation, posterior capsule rupture was higher than the control group (P<0.05), and the proportion of preventive antibiotic use and post-lens irrigation was lower than the control group (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age≥70 years old, combined diabetes mellitus, posterior capsule rupture and PMMA intraocular lens implantation were risk factors for infective endophthalmitis after cataract phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation(P<0.05), and intraoperative antibiotic use and post-lens irrigation were protective factors (P<0.05). The prediction model was constructed with the retained variables of Logistic regression, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test was P>0.05. ROC analysis predicted the area under the curve of infective endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation was 0.832, and the sensitivity and specificity were 81.25% and 85.12%, respectively. Conclusion: Age≥70 years old，combined diabetes mellitus, posterior capsule rupture and implantation of PMMA intraocular lens are risk factors for postoperative infectious endophthalmitis. Intraoperative antibiotic use and post-lens irrigation can reduce the risk of infectious endophthalmitis. The prediction model based on multivariate Logistic regression analysis has better energy efficiency in predicting infectious endophthalmitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of ultrasonically emulsified palm oil (UE-PA), peanut oil (UE-PE), and sunflower oil (UE-SU) on the whiteness, textural, rheological, and microstructural properties of surimi gels from silver carp. Three ultrasonically emulsified oils had different specific fatty acids and oil droplet sizes of 300-400 nm. Compared with the control group, low addition of UE-SU (2.5 g/100 g) showed the highest water-holding capacity (WHC), storage modulus (G’), and hydrogen bond in surimi gels. The low addition of UE-PE (2.5 g/100 g) increased disulfide bond, β-sheet, and β-turn of surimi gel, so had higher hardness and chewiness values, comparing to those with other emulsified oils. As ultrasonically emulsified oil addition increased in surimi gels (2.5–7.5 g/100 g), hardness, chewiness, WHC, G’ were decreased, while whiteness was increased (p

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sodium starch octenyl succinate (SSOS) as emulsifier and soy protein isolate (SPI) as co-emulsifier on the oxidative stability of nanoemulsion. The ultrasonic emulsification method was used to prepare flaxseed oil nanoemulsion. The results showed that the optimum preparation conditions were as follows: ultrasonic power of 600 W, core-to-wall ratio of 1:1.5, pulse mode of 8 s, and ultrasonication time of 20 min. The nanoemulsion obtained under these conditions was characterized by high embedding rate ((75.1 ± 4.9)% to (74.6 ± 4.2)%), low particle size ((244.0 ± 3.0) to (246.8 ± 4.5) nm) and high absolute zeta-potential value ((−67.2 ± 3.0) to (−69.3 ± 4.0) mV). With the addition of SPI, the peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value of the nanoemulsion were significantly reduced, and the oxidative stability was remarkably improved. This could result from the fact that SPI could increase the hydrophobicity of the mixed emulsifier, preventing flaxseed oil from contacting with oxygen radicals in the aqueous phase. This study will provide a new idea for improving the water solubility and oxidative stability of flaxseed oil, and provide a theoretical basis for extending the shelf life of flaxseed oil and promoting its application in the food field.

Pickering emulsions were prepared by phacoemulsification in an ice water bath with squalene as the oil phase and an aluminum adjuvant as the particle stabilizer. The effects of formulation and process conditions on the size and distribution of the Pickering emulsions were investigated. Pickering emulsions prepared under the optimal prescription and process conditions were mixed with a peptide antigen to obtain a peptide vaccine. The optimal prescription and process condition of the Pickering emulsion is as follows: squalene as the oil phase, ultra-pure water as the water phase with 5 mg/mL aluminum adjuvant, and an ultrasonication time of 4 min at 200 W power. BALB/c mice were immunized with the peptide vaccine, and the ability of the Pickering emulsion as an immunological adjuvant to improve the efficacy of the peptide vaccine was evaluated. Under optimal conditions, a Pickering emulsion with a small particle size (430.8 nm), uniform distribution (polydispersion index of 16.9%), and zeta potential of 31.5 mV, was obtained. Immunological results showed that the serum specific antibody level in the vaccinated group reached 1×104 after three immunizations. The proportion of CD4+T cells and CD4/CD8 cells was significantly higher (P

Bacterial infection is a thorny problem, and it is of great significance to developing green and efficient biological antibacterial agents that can replace antibiotics. This study aimed to rapidly prepare a new type of green antibacterial nanoemulsion containing silver nanoparticles in one step by using Blumea balsamifera oil (BBO) as an oil phase and tea saponin (TS) as a natural emulsifier and reducing agent. The optimum preparation conditions of the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE were determined, as well as its physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity in vitro being investigated. The results showed that the average particle size of the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE was 249.47 ± 6.23 nm, the PDI was 0.239 ± 0.003, and the zeta potential was −35.82 ± 4.26 mV. The produced AgNPs@BBO-TS NE showed good stability after centrifugation and 30-day storage. Moreover, the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE had an excellent antimicrobial effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These results demonstrated that the AgNPs@BBO-TS NE produced in this study can be used as an efficient and green antibacterial agent in the biomedical field.

Copyright of Shipin Kexue/ Food Science is the property of Food Science Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ultrasonically emulsified lard combined with microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) on the physicochemical characteristics of surimi gel from silver carp. Surimi gel with ultrasonically emulsified lard had higher whiteness, gel strength and water‐holding capacity. Storage modulus and loss modulus decreased with the addition of lard or ultrasonically emulsified lard to the surimi. However, the gel strength and WHC presented a decreasing tendency in surimi gels with more addition of ultrasonically emulsified lard, because the gel network could not overcome the damaging effect of higher ultrasonically emulsified lard (>6 g 100 g−1). MTGase increased the cross‐linking degree of gels (P < 0.05) regardless of the presence or absence of lard or ultrasonically emulsified lard. MTGase provided a denser and stronger gel network to ensure the stability of oil droplets. In general, the combination of ultrasonically emulsified lard and MTGase could effectively improve the color, textural and rheological characteristics of surimi‐based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clove oil based Nanoemulsions (NE) were prepared ultrasonically using Tween 80 and soy lecithin as synthetic and natural surfactants, respectively. The developed NEs were characterized for various parameters (particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, morphology, viscosity, colour, turbidity and pH) and the comparative effect of both the surfactants at variable levels (oil:tween 80-1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 and oil: soy lecithin- 1:1, 1:1.5 and 1:2) was assessed. It was found that the type of surfactant and oil to surfactant ratio significantly affected particle size and stability of NEs. The NE prepared using tween 80 @1:3 had smallest average droplet diameter (40.9 nm). The formulated NEs were stored at 25 °C and 4 °C and analyzed for turbidity, pH and phase separation up to 90 days. Results revealed that the type and concentration of the surfactant significantly influenced the particle size and stability of NEs. NEs prepared using tween 80 were found to be more viscous than those prepared with soy lecithin. The prepared clove oil NEs have important implication to be used as a natural delivery system to increase the shelf life of food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of ultrasonically emulsified palm oil (UE-PA), peanut oil (UE-PE), and sunflower oil (UE-SU) on the whiteness, textural, rheological, and microstructural properties of surimi gels from silver carp. Three ultrasonically emulsified oils had different specific fatty acids and oil droplet sizes of 300-400 nm. Compared with the control group, low addition of UE-SU (2.5 g/100 g) showed the highest water-holding capacity (WHC), storage modulus (G'), and hydrogen bond in surimi gels. The low addition of UE-PE (2.5 g/100 g) increased disulfide bond, β-sheet, and β-turn of surimi gel, so had higher hardness and chewiness values, comparing to those with other emulsified oils. As ultrasonically emulsified oil addition increased in surimi gels (2.5–7.5 g/100 g), hardness, chewiness, WHC, G' were decreased, while whiteness was increased (p <.05). Light microscopy showed the most uniform distribution of oil droplets of UE-SU in surimi gels. Results demonstrated that lower addition of UE-PE and UE-SU (2.5 g/100 g) could potentially improve the whiteness, textural, rheological, and nutritional quality of surimi-based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the stable system of bilayer emulsion was fabricated by ultrasonic emulsification. The effect of chitosan (CS) addition (0.05 %-0.4 %, w/v) at pH 5.0 on the stability of rice bran protein hydrolysate-ferulic acid (RBPH-FA) monolayer emulsion was investigated. It was found that the addition of CS (0.3 %) could form a stable bilayer emulsion. The droplet size was 3.38 μm and the absolute ζ-potential value was 31.52 mV. The bilayer emulsion had better storage stability, oxidation stability and environmental stabilities than the monolayer emulsion. The results of in vitro simulations revealed the bilayer emulsion was able to deliver the β-carotene to the small intestine digestive stage stably and the bioaccessibility was increased from 22.34 % to 61.36 % compared with the monolayer emulsion. The research confirmed that the bilayer emulsion prepared by ultrasonic emulsification can be used for the delivery of hydrophobic functional component β-carotene.

Safe and efficient pesticide formulations have attracted great attention for the prevention and control of diseases and pests. In recent years, improving the effectiveness and duration of pesticides through nanotechnology has become a research hotspot in the field of pesticide formulations. Here, we develop a novel hydrophilic lambda-cyhalothrin nanospheres encapsulated with poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PSMA) via the ultrasonic emulsification–solvent evaporation method, which exhibited better particle size uniformity and dispersion in comparison with the traditional method. The effects of PSMA content, oil phase/water phase ratio and phacoemulsification time on the particle size and morphology of nanoparticles were investigated to optimize preparation process parameters. Meanwhile, the wettability and adhesion behavior on the leaf surface, the release properties, and the storage stability of nanoparticles were characterized to evaluate the performance of the novel nano-formulation. This work not only establishes a facile and promising method for the applicable of insoluble pesticides, but also develops an innovative nano-formulation with hydrophilicity and high leaf adhesion, which opens a new direction in plant protection and residue reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to optimize a novel green CEO nanoemulsions (CEO NEs) and explore its physicochemical properties and the effect on the shelf-life of strawberries during storage at environmental temperature (20-25 °C). We used CEO as oil phase and tea saponin (TS) as a natural surfactant to formulate the novel green CEO NEs, and its potential as an antimicrobial agent was also investigated. The results showed that CEO NEs had a droplet size about 170 nm with uniform distribution and regularly spherical. These CEO NEs exhibited excellent storage stability, thermal stability, pH stability and centrifugal stability. The antimicrobial test indicated that the minimal inhibitory concentration and the minimal bactericidal (fungicidal) concentration of CEO NEs against Escherichia coli, Botrytis cinerea and Aspergillus flavus were 17.81 μg/mL and 35.62 μg/mL, 35.62 μg/mL and 71.25 μg/mL, 2.23 μg/mL and 4.45 μg/mL, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of pure CEO (333.75 μg/mL and 667.5 μg/mL, 667.5 μg/mL and 1335 μg/mL, 41.72 μg/mL and 83.44 μg/mL). More interestingly, after soaking strawberries in CEO NEs for 2 min, the shelf-life of strawberries can be extended to 7 days at environmental temperature, and a lower rate of weight loss and mildew were showed in the group of CEO NEs than other control groups, especially the strawberries in ultrapure water group went bad first, obviously shranked, and contaminated by molds after 3 days. The above results indicate that CEO NEs prepared in this study has great potential as a new green antimicrobial agent in fruit preservation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In present scenario, much of the attention has been put on the production and utilization of Pickering emulsions deciphering enhanced stability and applicability over wide environmental conditions. In this context the present study was carried out to elaborate effect of different wall materials and pH systems on the physicochemical, structural and morphological properties of Himalayan walnut oil Pickering emulsions by ultrasonic emulsification. In this study, concentrated Pickering emulsion of Himalayan walnut oil (HWO) was prepared utilizing soy protein isolate (SPI), maltodextrin (MD) stabilized by pectin at varying concentrations and pH systems (4.0, 7.0). With increase in pectin and SPI concentration and lowering MD, stable emulsions were obtained as deciphered by an Emulsion stability index (ESI) of 100 for 7 days at ambient storage. HWO Pickering emulsions were analysed for particle size measurements (2.13-13.64 µm) and depicted negative zeta potential values (-3.70 to -18.58). Lyophilized HWO microcapsules depicted moderate encapsulation efficiency (44.69-57.63 %) whereas the hygroscopicity values of the microcapsule ranged from (0.21-12.10 %). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the samples depicted the temperature of maximum degradation rate up to 550 °C whereas XRD spectra depicted amorphous nature of oil microcapsules. FTIR spectra revealed a close association between the SPI-MD-Pectin matrix. SEM analysis revealed stable oil globules entrapped in protein-polysaccharide matrix with no visible cracks and fissures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This work aims to obtain the dispersions based on polyethylene glycols (PEGs) of various molecular masses (MM) and perfluorodecalin (PFD) for subsequent direct fluorination. The solubility of the components was estimated using laser interferometry and differential scanning calorimetry, and it was shown that PEGs with different MM are not highly compatible with PFD. The dispersions were prepared during sonication. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis indicated that MMs almost did not change in this process. While the sonication of PEG-PFD, there is a formation of dispersion with the particle sizes distribution in a range of 0.4‒2 μm depending on the MM of PEG. The dispersion is metastable for several hours, even though its stability was significantly affected by additional bubbling with the gas flow. Moreover, the dispersions with a solid PEG phase (MM > 600 Da) were subjected to a smaller change compared to a liquid one (MM < 600 Da). The results of this research shed light on the applicability of the ultrasonic preparation of PEGs in PFD for liquid-phase fluorination with obtaining perfluorinated polyether of target MM.

The relationships between three steps of the inverse emulsion‐breath figure (Ie‐BF) method, including emulsion preparation, film casting and hydrophilic component loading, are explored by adjusting the experimental factors of the three implementing processes. For emulsion preparation step, the influence of the ultrasonification, the concentration of emulsifier and the addition of polymer on the size of the emulsion droplets are investigated. For film casting step, the influence of environmental humidity and several factors concerning the emulsion preparation on the porous structure of the resultant films are studied. It has been proved that high humidity is a necessity for obtaining surface pores, and multi‐layered pores with disordered distribution can be formed in the bulk layer of the film when high water/oil ratio is used in making the emulsion. Bovine serum albumin is loaded into the emulsion water droplets, and by implementing the Ie‐BF method under the condition of water/oil ratio being as low as 0.02 vol%, selective protein enrichment within the interior of the top‐layer pores is still realized. It reflects the characteristics of "high efficiency, targeted assembly" in the step of hydrophilic component loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of the emulsifier type, hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value, bio-oil ratio, ultrasonic power density, and ultrasonic time were tested relative to the physicochemical properties and stability of emulsified oils to broaden the use of bio-oil and overcome its defects. The results showed that the turbidity and stabilization times of the emulsified oils reached the maximum values of 184 NTU and 84 min (Span 80 and Tween 80), 191 NTU and 92 min (HLB value of 5), 280 NTU and 92 min (bio-oil ratio of 5%), 191 NTU and 81 min (ultrasonic power density of 0.96 w/mL), 273 NTU and 97 min (ultrasonic time of 20 min), respectively. When the bio-oil to methanol ratio was 1:1, the turbidity value of the emulsified oil reached a maximum value of 664 NTU and the stability time was greater than 24 h. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis indicated that the emulsified oil did not delaminate after 30 d, and the uniformity and stability of the emulsified oil were improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to obtain the dispersions based on polyethylene glycols (PEGs) of various molecular masses (MM) and perfluorodecalin (PFD) for subsequent direct fluorination. The solubility of the components was estimated using laser interferometry and differential scanning calorimetry, and it was shown that PEGs with different MM are not highly compatible with PFD. The dispersions were prepared during sonication. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis indicated that MMs almost did not change in this process. While the sonication of PEG-PFD, there is a formation of dispersion with the particle sizes distribution in a range of 0.4‒2 μm depending on the MM of PEG. The dispersion is metastable for several hours, even though its stability was significantly affected by additional bubbling with the gas flow. Moreover, the dispersions with a solid PEG phase (MM > 600 Da) were subjected to a smaller change compared to a liquid one (MM < 600 Da). The results of this research shed light on the applicability of the ultrasonic preparation of PEGs in PFD for liquid-phase fluorination with obtaining perfluorinated polyether of target MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to design and develop a nanoemulgel formulation of Tamoxifen citrate (TAM), a water-insoluble, potent anticancer drug, using the spontaneous emulsification method to improve topical delivery, achieve high accumulation at the tumour site, and spare the healthy tissues. The oil-based selection was related to the TAM solubility, while the surfactant and co-surfactant were chosen based on the droplets' thermodynamic stability and size. Afterwards, a pseudo-ternary phase diagram was built for the most promising formulation using two oils, olive and sesame, with a varied mix of Tween 40 as the surfactant and Trascutol HP as the co-surfactant (Smix), by the optimisation of experiments. The nanoemulsion (NE) formulations that were prepared were found to have an average droplet size of 41.77 ± 1.23 nm and 188.37 ± 3.53 nm, with suitable thermodynamic stability and physicochemical properties. Both olive and sesame oils are natural food additives due to their associated antioxidant effects; therefore, they showed no toxicity profile on breast cell lines (MCF-7, ATCC number HTB-22). The TAM-NE preparations revealed a prolonged and doublings superior cumulative percentage of in vitro release of TAM compared to TAM plain gel suspension over 24 h. The release data suggested that the Higuchi model was the best fitting kinetical model for the developed formulations of NE1, NE9, and NE18. The extended release of the drug as well as an acceptable amount of the drug permeated TAM via nanogel preparations suggested that nanoemulgel (NEG) is suitable for the topical delivery of TAM in breast cancer management. Thus, this work suggests that a nanogel of TAM can improve anticancer properties and reduce systemic adverse effects compared to a suspension preparation of TAM when applied in the treatment of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: At present, conservative and surgical treatments are difficult to cure tendinitis. A minimally invasive and convenient treatment has not been widely used in clinical practice. Objective: To explore the feasibility of applying ultrasonic emulsification device to treat Achilles tendinitis in a rabbit model of Achilles tendinitis. Method s: Thirty New Zealand rabbits were randomized into a control group, a model group and an ultrasonic emulsification group. A model of Achilles tendinitis was built in the model and ultrasonic emulsification groups by collagenase injection. Rabbits in the control and model groups were only given normal saline, while those in the ultrasonic emulsification group were subjected to ultrasonic emulsification under guidance of B-mode ultrasonic scan within at 3 weeks after modeling. Three weeks after treatment, tendon repair was estimated by biomechanical analysis, hydroxyproline concentration measurement, and hematoxylin-eosin staining of the tendon tissue. Results and Conclusion : Three weeks after ultrasonic emulsification treatment, hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the disordered arrangement of collagen fibers and the cell condensation were improved compared with the model group, while the biomechanical analysis and hydroxyproline concentration showed no relief in tendinitis. Therefore, ultrasonic emulsification treatment has an application prospect in tendon repair; however, it is necessary to further explore and optimize the treatment parameters and modes to improve the therapeutic effect in many aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Emulsion technology is widely used in the preparation of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, drug delivery, and other daily necessities, and surfactants are frequently used to prepare these emulsions because of the lack of reliable surfactant-free emulsification techniques. This is disadvantageous because some surfactants pose health hazards, cause environmental pollution, have costly components, and place limitations on process development. In this paper, an efficient method for surfactant-free nano-emulsification is presented. In addition, we discuss the effects of different operating parameters on the oil particle size, as well as the effect of the particle size on the emulsion stability. Specifically, we compared three surfactant-free ultrasonic emulsification technologies (horn, bath, and focused ultrasonic systems). The focused ultrasonic system, which concentrates sound energy at the center of the dispersion system, showed the best performance, producing emulsions with a particle size distribution of 60–400 nm at 400 kHz. In addition, phase separation did not occur despite the lack of surfactants and thickeners, and the emulsion remained stable for seven days. It is expected to be widely used in eco-friendly emulsification processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly hygienic walnut emulsion beverage was prepared by using a slit dual-frequency emulsification technique. The optimal ultrasonic parameters were studied as a model system: the ultrasonic time of 50 min, the ultrasonic power density of 260 W/L, and a dual-frequency ultrasonic combination of 28/68 kHz. Walnut emulsion with an average mean volume diameter of 2.05 µm, a Zeta potential absolute value of 40 mV was obtained after ultrasonic treatment, and the emulsion stability could be maintained for more than 14 days without phase separation. At the lowest ultrasonic energy input, the vibrating emulsion could promote droplet aggregation. However, excessive energy input could result in sample overtreatment and reduced emulsion activity. The laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed that walnut emulsion processed by slit dual-frequency ultrasonic had pretty high stability. Therefore, the slit dual-frequency ultrasonic emulsification technique was found to be well suited for the preparation of complex and fine oil-in-water food emulsions.

Safe and efficient pesticide formulations have attracted great attention for the prevention and control of diseases and pests. In recent years, improving the effectiveness and duration of pesticides through nanotechnology has become a research hotspot in the field of pesticide formulations. Here, we develop a novel hydrophilic lambda-cyhalothrin nanospheres encapsulated with poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PSMA) via the ultrasonic emulsification–solvent evaporation method, which exhibited better particle size uniformity and dispersion in comparison with the traditional method. The effects of PSMA content, oil phase/water phase ratio and phacoemulsification time on the particle size and morphology of nanoparticles were investigated to optimize preparation process parameters. Meanwhile, the wettability and adhesion behavior on the leaf surface, the release properties, and the storage stability of nanoparticles were characterized to evaluate the performance of the novel nano-formulation. This work not only establishes a facile and promising method for the applicable of insoluble pesticides, but also develops an innovative nano-formulation with hydrophilicity and high leaf adhesion, which opens a new direction in plant protection and residue reduction.

The use of ultrasound to generate mini-emulsions (50 nm to 1 μm in diameter) and nanoemulsions (mean droplet diameter

The aim of this study was to characterize the ultrasonically formulated cinnamon oil nanoemulsions and to evaluate the effect of type of surfactants [tween 80 (synthetic) and soy lecithin (natural)] and their concentration (oil:tween 80−1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 and oil:soy lecithin-1:1, 1:1.5 and 1:2) on the physiochemical properties and stability of nanoemulsions. The physical parameters including particle size, poly dispersity index (pdI), zeta potential, viscosity and turbidity were assessed. Surfactant concentration was found to be inversely correlated with the average particle size as well as pdI of the nanoemulsions. With an increase in the level of surfactant, turbidity of the nanoemulsions was observed to be less due to the smaller average particle size of the developed nanoemulsions. The formulated nanoemulsions were stored at 25 ºC and 4 ºC and analyzed for turbidity, pH and phase separation upto 90 days. Results revealed that the type and concentration of the surfactant significantly influenced the particle size and stability of nanoemulsions, the least size being attained with tween 80 @1:4 (22.68 nm) and for soy lecithin@ 1:1.5 (75.61 nm). Emulsions formulated with tween were found to be more viscous in comparison to those prepared with soy lecithin. The storage study revealed that prepared tween 80 and soy lecithin based nanoemulsions (stored at 4 ºC and 25 ºC) remained stable for 3 months without any phase separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to design and develop a nanoemulgel formulation of Tamoxifen citrate (TAM), a water-insoluble, potent anticancer drug, using the spontaneous emulsification method to improve topical delivery, achieve high accumulation at the tumour site, and spare the healthy tissues. The oil-based selection was related to the TAM solubility, while the surfactant and co-surfactant were chosen based on the droplets’ thermodynamic stability and size. Afterwards, a pseudo-ternary phase diagram was built for the most promising formulation using two oils, olive and sesame, with a varied mix of Tween 40 as the surfactant and Trascutol HP as the co-surfactant (Smix), by the optimisation of experiments. The nanoemulsion (NE) formulations that were prepared were found to have an average droplet size of 41.77 ± 1.23 nm and 188.37 ± 3.53 nm, with suitable thermodynamic stability and physicochemical properties. Both olive and sesame oils are natural food additives due to their associated antioxidant effects; therefore, they showed no toxicity profile on breast cell lines (MCF-7, ATCC number HTB-22). The TAM-NE preparations revealed a prolonged and doublings superior cumulative percentage of in vitro release of TAM compared to TAM plain gel suspension over 24 h. The release data suggested that the Higuchi model was the best fitting kinetical model for the developed formulations of NE1, NE9, and NE18. The extended release of the drug as well as an acceptable amount of the drug permeated TAM via nanogel preparations suggested that nanoemulgel (NEG) is suitable for the topical delivery of TAM in breast cancer management. Thus, this work suggests that a nanogel of TAM can improve anticancer properties and reduce systemic adverse effects compared to a suspension preparation of TAM when applied in the treatment of breast cancer.

Ultrasonic emulsification (USE) assisted by cavitation is an effective method to produce emulsion droplets. However, the role of gas bubbles in the USE process still remains unclear. Hence, in the present paper, high-speed camera observations of bubble evolution and emulsion droplets formation in oil and water were used to capture in real-time the emulsification process, while experiments with different gas concentrations were carried out to investigate the effect of gas bubbles on droplet size. The results show that at the interface of oil and water, gas bubbles with a radius larger than the resonance radius collapse and sink into the water phase, inducing (oil–water) blended liquid jets across bubbles to generate oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) and water-in-oil (W/O) droplets in the oil phase and oil-in-water (O/W) droplets in the water phase, respectively. Gas bubbles with a radius smaller than the resonance radius at the interface always move towards the oil phase, accompanied with the generation of water droplets in the oil phase. In the oil phase, gas bubbles, which can attract bubbles nearby the interface, migrate to the interface of oil and water due to acoustic streaming, and generate numerous droplets. As for the gas bubbles in the water phase, those can break neighboring droplets into numerous finer ones during bubble oscillation. With the increase in gas content, more bubbles undergo chaotic oscillation, leading to smaller and more stable emulsion droplets, which explains the beneficial role of gas bubbles in USE. Violently oscillating microbubbles are, therefore, found to be the governing cavitation regime for emulsification process. These results provide new insights to the mechanisms of gas bubbles in oil–water emulsions, which may be useful towards the optimization of USE process in industry.

Aiming at elucidating ultrasonic emulsification mechanisms, the interaction between a single or multiple acoustic cavitation bubbles and gallium droplet interface was investigated using an high-speed imaging technique. To our best knowledge, the moment of emulsification and formation of fine droplets during ultrasound irradiation were observed for the first time. It was found that the detachment of fine gallium droplets occurs from the water-gallium interface during collapse of big cavitation bubbles. The results suggest that the maximum size of cavitation bubble before collapsing is of prime importance for emulsification phenomena. Previous numerical simulation revealed that the collapse of big cavitation bubble is followed by generation of high-velocity liquid jet directed toward the water-gallium interface. Such a jet is assumed to be the prime cause of liquid emulsification. The distance between cavitation bubbles and water-gallium interface was found to slightly affect the emulsification onset. The droplet fragmentation conditions are also discussed in terms of the balance between (1) interfacial and kinetic energies and (2) dynamic and Laplace pressure during droplet formation.

Emulsion technology is widely used in the preparation of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, drug delivery, and other daily necessities, and surfactants are frequently used to prepare these emulsions because of the lack of reliable surfactant-free emulsification techniques. This is disadvantageous because some surfactants pose health hazards, cause environmental pollution, have costly components, and place limitations on process development. In this paper, an efficient method for surfactant-free nano-emulsification is presented. In addition, we discuss the effects of different operating parameters on the oil particle size, as well as the effect of the particle size on the emulsion stability. Specifically, we compared three surfactant-free ultrasonic emulsification technologies (horn, bath, and focused ultrasonic systems). The focused ultrasonic system, which concentrates sound energy at the center of the dispersion system, showed the best performance, producing emulsions with a particle size distribution of 60–400 nm at 400 kHz. In addition, phase separation did not occur despite the lack of surfactants and thickeners, and the emulsion remained stable for seven days. It is expected to be widely used in eco-friendly emulsification processes.

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The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ultrasonic operating conditions, i.e., ultrasonic mode, amplitude, total ultrasonic duration time, and emulsifier system in producing an optimum oil-in-water of sacha inchi oil nanoemulsions (SIO-NEs). Physicochemical characteristics (including average droplet size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, and viscosity) were the evaluated response variables. Smaller droplet size was obtained from SIO-NEs prepared by ultrasonic pulse application (15s ON and 10s OFF) with an ultrasonic amplitude level of 60%. In contrast, excess energy produced by ultrasonication amplitudes of more than 60% resulted in larger average droplet size and PDI. A decrease in the absolute value of zeta potential and a lower viscosity of SIO-NEs were also observed in conjunction with the high amplitude level of the ultrasonication process. An ultrasonication duration time of longer than 10 minutes did not significantly reduce the droplet size. Five emulsifier systems were evaluated in this study, including Pluronic®L-31, Brij®C-10, Tween®80, Tween®80/Pluronic®L-31, and Brij®C-10/Pluronic®L-31. The results revealed that the Brij®C-10/Pluronic®L-31 mixture produced the smallest droplet size (148 nm) with the lowest PDI (0.210), viscosity (3.35 cPs), and zeta potential (-31.09 mV). The concentration of the Brij®C-10/Pluronic®L-31 mixture, used as an emulsifier of SIO-NEs, varied from 1.5% to 9%. Based on the present findings, the most suitable concentration of mixed emulsifier used was deemed as 3% (w/v). The selected SIO-NEs were stored under room temperature to determine their droplet size stability, with the constant slightly increasing within 90 days of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogels being a drug delivery system has great significance particularly for topical application in cutaneous open wound. Its specific physicochemical properties such as non-adhesiveness, moisture retention, exudate absorption, and gas permeability make them ideal as a drug delivery vehicle for wound healing application. Further, curcumin (a natural bioactive) was selected as a therapeutic agent to incorporate into the hydrogel system to design and develop nanogel pharmaceutical products for wound healing. Although, curcumin possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-infective activity along with hastening the healing process by acting over the different stages of the wound healing process, but its poor biopharmaceutical (low aqueous solubility and skin penetrability) attributes hamper their therapeutic efficacy for skin applications. The current investigation aimed to develop the curcumin-loaded nanogel system and evaluated to check the improvement in the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin through a nanomedicine-based approach for wound healing activity in Wistar rats. The curcumin was enclosed inside the nanoemulsion system prepared through a high-energy ultrasonic emulsification technique at a minimum concentration of surfactant required to nanoemulsify the curcumin-loaded oil system (Labrafac PG) having droplet size 56.25 ± 0.69 nm with polydispersity index 0.05 ± 0.01 and negatively surface charge with zeta potential −20.26 ± 0.65 mV. It was observed that the impact of Smix (surfactant/co-surfactant mixture) ratio on droplet size of generated nanoemulsion is more pronounced at lower Smix concentration (25%) compared to the higher Smix concentration (30%). The optimized curcumin-loaded nanoemulsion was incorporated into a 0.5% Carbopol® 940 hydrogel system for topical application. The developed curcumin nanoemulgel exhibited thixotropic rheological behavior and a significant (p < 0.05) increase in skin penetrability characteristics compared to curcumin dispersed in conventional hydrogel system. The in vivo wound healing efficacy study and histological examination of healed tissue specimen further signify the role of the nanomedicine-based approach to improve the biopharmaceutical attributes of curcumin.

Abstract Increasing energy demands coupled with decreasing fossil fuel resources create an urgent need to switch over bio-based fuel, such as biodiesel. In a newly designed reactor, the production of biodiesel was conducted with soybean oil (SBO) in solvent-free system through transesterification by immobilized Burkholderia cepacia lipase under the influence of ultrasonic emulsification. Effects of operational parameters viz. methanol-to-oil molar ratio, water concentration, immobilized enzyme concentration, and temperature on fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield were investigated. Molar ratio and enzyme concentration showed a significant linear correlation with biodiesel yield (r = − 0.8 and 0.6; respectively). Linear regression analysis of both parameters later revealed a significant prediction ability for biodiesel with a yield of 78.8 and 31.7%, respectively. FAME yield was 30% at 7 h in the pretreatment reactor. Without ultrasonic emulsification, the yield was significantly enhanced to 64% for the same reaction time in the packed-bed reactor. However, the reaction time was further reduced significantly under the influence of ultrasonic emulsification coupled with immobilized lipase as a catalyst and resulted into higher biodiesel yield of 68.6% at 3 h. Clearly, ultrasonic emulsification-assisted immobilized lipase catalysis of SBO might be a potential alternative route to conventional methods of biodiesel production. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Design a novel biodiesel (BD) reactor in a continuous flow through enzymatic catalysis in immobilized media. • Under 0.5 ml min−1 of continuous flow, the BD yield varied from 26.8% to 28.9% in 11 h. • The pore size of the permeable membrane (38 μm), allowing a higher contact between the fluids and the lipase. • Combination of pretreatment and continuous flow reaction have a promising future for BD production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Ultrasonic nano-emulsification has thoroughly been reviewed. • Low and high energy nanoemulsion preparation methods, with comprehensive comparison among ultrasonic nano-emulsification and other methods are discussed. • Analyzes data for surfactant-free nanoemulsions and also tandem ultrasonic nano-emulsification are included. Abstract The emulsions with nano-sized dispersed phase is called nanoemulsions having a wide variety of applications ranging from food, dairy, pharmaceutics to paint and oil industries. As one of the high energy consumer methods, ultrasonic emulsification (UE) are being utilized in many processes providing unique benefits and advantages. In the present review, ultrasonic nano-emulsification is critically reviewed and assessed by focusing on the main parameters such pre-emulsion processes, multi-frequency or multi-step irradiations and also surfactant-free parameters. Furthermore, categorizing aposematic data of experimental researches such as frequency, irradiation power and time, oil phase and surfactant concentration and also droplet size and stability duration are analyzed and conceded in tables being beneficial to indicate uncovered fields. It is believed that the UE with optimized parameters and stimulated conditions is a developing method with various advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byssochlamys fulva is a heat-resistant fungus whose growth causes significant economic losses since it is mostly implicated in the spoilage of processed fruits (e.g., apple juice). Essential oils have received an increasing attention for use in food products to prevent mold growths. In this study, the ultrasonic emulsification method was employed to prepare Zataria multiflora Boiss. Essential Oil (ZEO) and Carum copticum L. Essential Oil)CEO) based NanoEmulsions (NEs) separately using a mixture of components including Z. multiflora and C. copticum oils, each as an organic phase, as well as the surfactant Tween 80 at a ratio of 1:4 v/v. The Z. multiflora NanoEmulsion (ZEO-NE) formulated with a droplet diameter of 19.42±1.66 nm and a PolyDispersity Index (PDI) of 0.377 and the Carum copticum NanoEmulsion (CEO-NE) with a droplet diameter of 15.13±0.56 nm and a PDI of 0.253 was found to remain stable for more than 9 months at 25 °C. The in vitro evaluation revealed that the the ZEO-NE at a concentration of 5 μL mL-1 and CEONE at 25 μL mL-1 gave rise to inhibition effects of 84.23±0.006% (P< 0.05) and 86%±0.012 (P< 0.05) against B. fulva, respectively. The in situ assessment of the nanoemulsions in apple juice revealed a significant (P< 0.05) reduction in the inoculated fungal population. Results indicate that the ZEO-NE and CEO-NE can be used as antifungal compounds in beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study conducted in Egypt during 2017 to describe preparation of oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions for different insecticides through ultrasonic emulsification technique. The stability of nanoemulsions over a time period, polydispersity index, droplet size, viscosity, and pH were investigated. The results of dynamic light scattering measurements showed that prepared nanoemulsions had a droplet size distribution of lower than 200 nm. The particle size of chlorpyrifos, malathion, cypermethrin, deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin was 18.35, 177.2, 84.99, 24.42 and 79.05 nm, respectively with PDI values from 0.121 to 0.377. The transmission electron microscopy confirmed that these nanoparticles have spherical shape. The viscosity of all formulations ranged from 2.00 to 27.23 mPa.s and pH was around 6.0. The prepared nanoemulsions remained stable over four months of storage at room temperature. This result proved that all selected insecticides were successful in their preparation with a nanometric size range indicating to the possibility of developing suitable formulations as alternatives to traditional emulsifiable concentrate formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work was to investigate the application of ultrasound in the formation of a stable human milk fat (HMF) analog emulsion with macronutrients (lecithin and protein) as emulsifiers required for infant formula, at low levels and within the ranges of infant formula standards; in addition, the aim was to evaluate the stability of the emulsion to various environmental stresses. Increasing the lecithin concentration and decreasing the HMF analog amount yielded a stable HMF analog emulsion with a smaller mean particle size. Increasing the ultrasonic power and time favored decreasing particle sizes. The emulsion obtained under optimized conditions was stable at a pH of 6.4–8.0, at heating temperatures of 50 °C–90 °C, and with sugar levels and sodium ion strengths that met infant formula standards. Storage below 25 °C for 7 days did not substantially change the physicochemical stability of the emulsion. The results provide information useful for manufacturing high-quality infant formula; ultrasonic emulsification can be used to produce a stable HMF analog emulsion using protein and lecithin at low levels to meet infant formula standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cumin essential oil oil-in-water nanoemulsions were formulated using non-ionic surfactants (Tween 80 and Tween 20) using an ultrasonic method. Nanoemulsion preparation was optimized for parameters such as surfactant type, surfactant concentration and sonication time to achieve minimum droplet diameter with higher physical stability. Results showed that surfactant concentration had inverse relationships with droplet diameter; however, increasing sonication time in Tween 20 and Tween 80 systems had different effects on droplets diameter. A transparent, stable nanoemulsion with droplet diameter of 70 nm was prepared with Tween 80 at a concentration of 0.75%. Thermal stability analysis showed that the nanoemulsions were stable when heated to 65 °C and then cooled to 25 °C. Before development of nanoemulsion-filled hydrogels, the brittle structure of the κ-carrageenan gel (0.25%) with the highest amount of syneresis was improved by the addition of the soluble part of gum tragacanth at a concentration of 0.6%. Optically transparent filled hydrogels were formed by incorporating cumin essential oil nanoemulsions into carrageenan-tragacanth gels. The textural properties of the mixed gels did not change noticeably after the nanoemulsion droplets were incorporated. This approach may, therefore, be useful for the incorporation of various types of lipophilic bioactive agents into functional food gels. Highlights • Cumin essential oil nanoemulsions were formulated using non-ionic surfactants and water using an ultrasonic method. • Droplet diameter decreased as the surfactant concentration and sonication time increased up to reaching optimum condition. • κ-carrageenan gels' brittle structure was improved by the addition of the water soluble part of gum tragacanth. • Nanoemulsion incorporation into the optimized mixed gel had negligible effects on textural and optical characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edible coatings effectively delay the ripening process in fresh fruits while maintaining nutritional properties. The incorporation of active compounds such as essential oils can further improve their effectiveness. This study aimed to formulate alginate-based edible coating containing varying concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 ml) of oregano essential oil. The obtained coarse emulsions were further sonicated to obtain nanoemulsions. Characterization study of the coarse and nanoemulsions revealed reduced droplet size of about 160 nm and surface charge of around −13 mV with high translucency for nanoemulsions with reduced concentration of essential oil, thereby indicating high stability for nanoemulsions compared to their coarse counterparts. Further, the coating formulations were applied on fresh-cut papaya to assess physico-chemical, headspace, microbial, sensory and microstructural changes. The uncoated sample exhibited the highest water loss, microbial growth and lowest sensory scores. Contrarily, the coated samples exhibited reduced moisture loss and retarded respiratory and microbial activities, while the nanoemulsion coated samples presented better results than their coarse counterparts. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images also supported the same. Increasing the essential oil concentration increased the shelf life and the moisture retention capacity. Moreover, machine learning models (ANN and SVR) were employed to predict the color characteristics of the samples and were found to be satisfactorily fitted (R2 > 0.99) to the experimental data. This study thus demonstrated that nanoemulsions are better coatings to extend the shelf life of freshly cut papaya, and, therefore, can be used to preserve a variety of other minimally processed fruits and vegetables. • Oregano essential oil improved the effectiveness of alginate-based coating. • Nanoemulsion coating helped delay microbial growth in the cut-fruit. • Increasing the oil concentration led to an increase in shelf life of the coated cut-fruit. • SVR and ANN were found to satisfactorily fit (R2 > 0.99) the experimental data for predicting the color characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The influence of preparation method, high shear (HS) or ultrasonic (US) homogenization on stability, physical and sensory attributes of salad dressings containing saffron and pomegranate juice has been investigated upon 6 months of ambient storage. Emulsified dressings were evaluated for stability, microstructure, viscoelastic properties, and acceptance. All samples processed by HS showed higher apparent viscosity, yield stress (τ0), storage and loss moduli (G′, G″), particle diameters, yellow-blue color (b values) and lower lightness (L) compared to their US counterparts. Ambiguous results depending on added constituents (saffron or pomegranate juice) were obtained regarding long term stability and red-green color (a), whereas total color change (TCD) of samples was unaffected. Pomegranate dressings prepared with HS exhibited enhanced viscoelastic character and high stability during storage (Back scattering variation, dBS ∼ 1%). US samples were equally accepted as their HS counterparts by panelists for most sensory attributes, but sonication clearly improved the color likeness of samples containing pomegranate by 51%. Saffron addition significantly improved the taste of the dressings. This study shows that ultrasonication may be used to ameliorate color attributes related to pomegranate juice addition homogenizating successfully these products without detrimental effects on their long-term stability i.e. product syneresis. Highlights • Ultrasonic homogenization and storage resulted in thinner salad dressings. • Consistency loss reached 20% upon 4 months storage and 30% after 6 months. • Dressings containing pomegranate prepared with high shear (HS) exhibited the highest stability. • Reference and saffron dressings present similar rheological behavior. • Saffron addition clearly improved the taste of the emulsified dressings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims at preparing nanoemulsions of two types of plant essential oils (EOs) (Callistemon viminalis and Origanum vulgare) and two monoterpenes (R-limonene and pulegone) as acaricidal agents against two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. The oil-in-water nanoemulsions (10% active ingredient) were spontaneously formed by adding dropwise an EO or monoterpene into an aqueous solution containing 20% of a surfactant (Tween 80) with continuous stirring followed by a high-energy (ultrasonication) emulsification process for 15 min. The characterizations of nanoemulsions including viscosity, pH, thermodynamic stability, droplet size, and polydispersity index (PDI) were investigated in detail. All nanoemulsions were prepared with droplet size in the range of 7.07-10.18 nm and a PDI of 0.249-0.620. Nanoemulsions exhibited high acaricidal activity against T. urticae mites with a 100% reduction at 5000 mg/L after 2-3 days of application on bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under greenhouse conditions. No symptoms of phytotoxicity were observed in treated plants during the experiments (21 days). The stability of prepared nanoemulsions, high acaricidal activity, and the absence of organic toxic solvents make the formulations suitable as acaricidal products. The results suggest that appropriate nanoemulsions containing EOs and/or monoterpenes can be developed to control T. urticae on plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cinnamon oil is used for medicinal purpose since ancient time because of its antioxidant activity. Oil-in-water nanoemulsion (NE) of cinnamon oil was formulated using cinnamon oil, nonionic surfactant Tween 80 and water by ultrasonication technique. Phase diagram was constructed to investigate the influence of oil, water and surfactant concentration. Vitamin D encapsulated cinnamon oil NE was fabricated by wash out method followed by ultrasonication in similar fashion. The hydrodynamic size of cinnamon oil NE and vitamin D encapsulated cinnamon oil NE was observed as 40.52 and 48.96 nm in complete DMEM F12 media respectively. We focused on the cytotoxic and genotoxic responses of NEs in A549 cells in concentration dependent manner. We observed that both NEs induce DNA damage along with corresponding increase in micronucleus frequency that is evident from the comet and CBMN assay. Both the NEs arrested the cell cycle progression in G0/G1 phase, showed increased expression of Bax, capase-3 and caspase-9 and decrease expression of BcL2 proteins along with significant (p < 0.05) increase in apoptotic cell population and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. NEs were also evaluated for bactericidal efficacy against E. coli . Thus, both NEs have cytotoxic, genotoxic and antibacterial potential and hence can also be used in food industry with cinnamon oil as carrier for lipophilic nutraceutical like vitamin D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoemulsions are particularly suitable as a platform in the development of delivery systems for lipophilic functional agents. Current research describes the formation of oil-in-water (O/W) diazinon nanoemulsions using synthetic and natural additives by adopting a high-energy (ultrasound) emulsification method. The diazinon nanoemulsions were spontaneously formed by adding dropwise a mixture of diazinon, solvent and co-solvent in an aqueous solution containing a surfactant (tween or lecithin) with continuous stirring. The nanoemulsions were then formed by ultra-sonication. The effects of three levels of active ingredient, solvent, co-solvent, surfactant, sonication time and sonication cycle and power were performed by Minitab software to design the experiment. Effects of these factors on droplet size, polydispersity index (PDI), viscosity and pH of nanoemulsions were investigated. The results of the modeling showed that the experimental data could be adequately adapted in a second-order polynomial model with a multiple regression coefficient r2 of 0.821 for the prediction of particle size, PDI and viscosity. The long-term and thermodynamic stability of the prepared nanoemulsions were tested. The droplet size and morphology of the nanoemulsions were measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On this basis, a water-insoluble insecticide diazinon was incorporated into 26 optimized nanoemulsion systems to demonstrate potential applications in pest control. The results of DLS and TEM measurements showed that most of prepared nanoemulsions had an almost monodisperse droplet size distribution (PDI < 200 nm). Incorporation of diazinon had no significant effect on the size and stability of the nanoemulsions and the formulated nanoemulsion remained stable after four months of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oleoresin of copaiba has many pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and cicatrizing, besides helping to treat skin diseases, among other applications. In order to improve its activity, copaiba oleoresin was encapsulated within polymeric particles through emulsification assisted by ultrasound followed by a drying process. Ultrasound-assisted emulsification led to the formation of kinetically stable emulsions. The emulsions with increased stability and the lowest droplet diameters (80.95 ± 2.1 nm (Hi-Cap 100 ® ) and 71.8 ± 2.9 nm (Snow-Flake ® E 6131)) were subjected to freeze-drying and spray-drying to produce dry particles. The particles were characterized in terms of moisture content, particle size distribution, encapsulation efficiency, surface oil, oxidative stability, X-ray diffraction and morphological analysis by FESEM and CLSM. Both drying techniques produced amorphous particles with different sizes and low moisture content. Furthermore, high encapsulation efficiency and high stability against thermal degradation were achieved. The analysis of the particles’ morphology indicated that the nature of the biopolymers used (Hi-Cap 100 ® and Snow-Flake ® E 6131) did not affect their microstructure. However, as expected, the freeze-drying and spray-drying techniques produced particles with different external microstructures. SD particles were spherical, whereas FD particles presented irregular structures similar to sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ultrasonic emulsification (UE) was optimized by response surface methodology. • Surfactant content and ultrasonic power were the significant process factors for UE. • Optimized UE achieved more stable and less viscous nano-emulsions than other common methods. • Droplet size-dependent rheological behavior and the possible mechanisms were analyzed. This work was aimed to optimize the formulation of phase change material nano-emulsions by ultrasonic emulsification that has not been investigated systematically. The optimization was performed using response surface methodology on two response parameters, average droplet size and apparent viscosity, and three independent variables including ultrasonic amplitude (X 1), treatment time (X 2), and surfactant content (X 3). The significance of three variables on both droplet size and apparent viscosity followed the order of X 3 > X 1 > X 2. At the optimal variable levels (X 1 = 58 %; X 2 = 9 min; X 3 = 8 wt%), the droplet size of 118.2 nm and apparent viscosity of 7.3 mPa·s were predicated by the regression model and also well verified by experiments. The 25 wt% phase change nano-emulsion formed by ultrasonication exhibited the best emulsion stability and the lowest apparent viscosity compared with those formulated by high-energy rotor-stator homogenizer and low-energy method of phase inversion temperature. In addition, the rheological behavior associated with the average droplet size and the solid/liquid state of phase change material was illustrated numerically for the first time. In general, a threshold of 170–180 nm was found for the transition of liquid-in-water emulsions from a shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid to a Newtonian fluid in the shear rate range of 0.6–73 s−1. All solid-in-water suspensions showed shear-thinning fluid behavior, though the shear-thinning degree was dramatically reduced to a flow behavior index of about 0.95 as the particle size was below 100 nm. These findings may be useful for designing high-performance phase change material nano-emulsions with long service life, high energy storage capacity, and low pumping power consumption for applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]