{"title":"Continuous preparation of 50 nm emulsions of soybean oil using a novel temperature-controllable ultrasonic tandem emulsifying unit","authors":"Jingjing Li , Zehong Fang , Hao Tang , Lizheng Liu , Wenqiang Shang , Xueqing Huang , Xiaojing Zhu , Giancarlo Cravotto , Zhengya Dong , Zhilin Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.fbp.2025.07.010","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nanoemulsions with approximately 50 nm droplets possess extensive applications in food, medicine, cosmetics, etc., attributable to their transparency, remarkable stability, and high bioavailability. A novel temperature-controllable 21.1 kHz ultrasonic tandem emulsifying unit (USTE) was designed and used to prepare around 50 nm emulsions based on the synergistic effect of ultrasonic cavitation and continuous flow. Due to the use of glass-jacketed beakers, the metal particle contamination of the nanoemulsions caused by the conventional metal ultrasonic probes was essentially eliminated. Besides, the cavitation erosion to the glass-jacketed beakers was diminished by applying the low ultrasonic power of the USTE. The effects of flow rate (0.5–6 mL/min), temperature (45–65 °C), ultrasonic power (11–24 W), glycerol, and types and concentrations of surfactants (Tween-80, Span-80, PEG-400) on the droplet sizes (DS) and polydispersity index (PDI) of soybean oil nanoemulsions were investigated. At a flow rate of 1 or 2 mL/min, 5.4 % concentration of surfactant (Span-80/Tween-80 (28/72 w/w, HLB12), volume ratio of the aqueous phase to the oil phase (A/O) of 9:1, translucent soybean oil nanoemulsions with a average DS of 42 or 55 nm and a PDI of 0.138 or 0.152 were obtained at first-grade and second-grade ultrasonic emulsification power of 20 W/22 W at 55 °C. The obtained nanoemulsions remained highly steady after being stored at 4 °C and 25 °C for 220 days. Compared with a high-pressure homogenizer and an ultrasonic microreactor, the nanoemulsions obtained using the USTE boasted better quality with higher energy efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12134,"journal":{"name":"Food and Bioproducts Processing","volume":"153 ","pages":"Pages 350-361"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food and Bioproducts Processing","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960308525001397","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Nanoemulsions with approximately 50 nm droplets possess extensive applications in food, medicine, cosmetics, etc., attributable to their transparency, remarkable stability, and high bioavailability. A novel temperature-controllable 21.1 kHz ultrasonic tandem emulsifying unit (USTE) was designed and used to prepare around 50 nm emulsions based on the synergistic effect of ultrasonic cavitation and continuous flow. Due to the use of glass-jacketed beakers, the metal particle contamination of the nanoemulsions caused by the conventional metal ultrasonic probes was essentially eliminated. Besides, the cavitation erosion to the glass-jacketed beakers was diminished by applying the low ultrasonic power of the USTE. The effects of flow rate (0.5–6 mL/min), temperature (45–65 °C), ultrasonic power (11–24 W), glycerol, and types and concentrations of surfactants (Tween-80, Span-80, PEG-400) on the droplet sizes (DS) and polydispersity index (PDI) of soybean oil nanoemulsions were investigated. At a flow rate of 1 or 2 mL/min, 5.4 % concentration of surfactant (Span-80/Tween-80 (28/72 w/w, HLB12), volume ratio of the aqueous phase to the oil phase (A/O) of 9:1, translucent soybean oil nanoemulsions with a average DS of 42 or 55 nm and a PDI of 0.138 or 0.152 were obtained at first-grade and second-grade ultrasonic emulsification power of 20 W/22 W at 55 °C. The obtained nanoemulsions remained highly steady after being stored at 4 °C and 25 °C for 220 days. Compared with a high-pressure homogenizer and an ultrasonic microreactor, the nanoemulsions obtained using the USTE boasted better quality with higher energy efficiency.
期刊介绍:
Official Journal of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering:
Part C
FBP aims to be the principal international journal for publication of high quality, original papers in the branches of engineering and science dedicated to the safe processing of biological products. It is the only journal to exploit the synergy between biotechnology, bioprocessing and food engineering.
Papers showing how research results can be used in engineering design, and accounts of experimental or theoretical research work bringing new perspectives to established principles, highlighting unsolved problems or indicating directions for future research, are particularly welcome. Contributions that deal with new developments in equipment or processes and that can be given quantitative expression are encouraged. The journal is especially interested in papers that extend the boundaries of food and bioproducts processing.
The journal has a strong emphasis on the interface between engineering and food or bioproducts. Papers that are not likely to be published are those:
• Primarily concerned with food formulation
• That use experimental design techniques to obtain response surfaces but gain little insight from them
• That are empirical and ignore established mechanistic models, e.g., empirical drying curves
• That are primarily concerned about sensory evaluation and colour
• Concern the extraction, encapsulation and/or antioxidant activity of a specific biological material without providing insight that could be applied to a similar but different material,
• Containing only chemical analyses of biological materials.