Inactivation of Salmonella on Sprouting Seeds Using a Spontaneous Carvacrol Nanoemulsion Acidified with Organic Acids.

Over the past decade, demand has increased for natural, minimally processed produce, including sprout-based products. Sanitization with 20,000 ppm of calcium hypochlorite is currently recommended for all sprouting seeds before germination to limit sprout-related foodborne outbreaks. A potentially promising disinfectant as an alternative to calcium hypochlorite is acidified spontaneous essential oil nanoemulsions. In this study, the efficacy of an acidified carvacrol nanoemulsion was tested against mung beans and broccoli seeds artificially contaminated with a Salmonella enterica Enteritidis cocktail (ATCC BAA-709, ATCC BAA-711, and ATCC BAA-1045). Treatments were performed by soaking inoculated seeds in acidified (50 mM acetic or levulinic acid) carvacrol nanoemulsions (4,000 or 8,000 ppm) for 30 or 60 min. After treatment, the number of surviving cells was determined via plate counts and/or the most probable number (MPN) approach. Treatment for 30 min successfully reduced Salmonella Enteritidis by 4 log CFU/g on mung beans (from an initial contamination level of 4.2 to 4.6 log CFU/g) and by 2 log CFU/g on broccoli seeds (from an initial contamination level of 2.4 to 2.6 log CFU/g) to below our detection limit (≤3 MPN/g). Treated seeds were sprouted and tested for the presence of pathogens and sprout yield. The final sprout product had no detectable pathogens, and total sprout yield was not influenced by any treatment.

Encapsulation of ω-3 fatty acids in nanoemulsion-based delivery systems fabricated from natural emulsifiers: Sunflower phospholipids.

Nanoemulsions have considerable potential for encapsulating and delivering ω-3 fatty acids, but they are typically fabricated from synthetic surfactants. This study shows that fish oil-in-water nanoemulsions can be formed from sunflower phospholipids, which have advantages for food applications because they have low allergenicity and do not come from genetically modified organisms. Nanoemulsions containing small droplets (d<150 nm) could be produced using microfluidization, by optimizing phospholipid type and concentration, with the smallest droplets being formed at high phosphatidylcholine levels and at surfactant-to-oil ratios exceeding unity. The physical stability of the nanoemulsions was mainly attributed to electrostatic repulsion, with droplet aggregation occurring at low pH values (low charge magnitude) and at high ionic strengths (electrostatic screening). These results suggest that sunflower phospholipids may be a viable natural emulsifier to deliver ω-3 fatty acids into food and beverage products.

Formation of Food-Grade Nanoemulsions Using Low-Energy Preparation Methods: A Review of Available Methods.

There is considerable interest in the production of emulsions and nanoemulsions using low-energy methods due to the fact they are simple to implement and no expensive equipment is required. In this review, the principles of isothermal (spontaneous emulsification and emulsion phase inversion) and thermal (phase inversion temperature) low-energy methods for nanoemulsion production are presented. The major factors influencing nanoemulsion formation using low-energy methods and food-grade components are reviewed: preparation conditions, oil type, surfactant type, surfactant-to-oil ratio, and cosolvent or cosurfactant addition. The advantages and disadvantages of different low-energy and high-energy methods for fabricating nanoemulsions are highlighted, and potential applications for these techniques are discussed.

Formation of oil-in-water emulsions from natural emulsifiers using spontaneous emulsification: sunflower phospholipids.

This study examined the possibility of producing oil-in-water emulsions using a natural surfactant (sunflower phospholipids) and a low-energy method (spontaneous emulsification). Spontaneous emulsification was carried out by titrating an organic phase (oil and phospholipid) into an aqueous phase with continuous stirring. The influence of phospholipid composition, surfactant-to-oil ratio (SOR), initial phospholipids location, storage time, phospholipid type, and preparation method was tested. The initial droplet size depended on the nature of the phospholipid used, which was attributed to differences in phospholipid composition. Droplet size decreased with increasing SOR and was smallest when the phospholipid was fully dissolved in the organic phase rather than the aqueous phase. The droplets formed using spontaneous emulsification were relatively large (d > 10 µm), and so the emulsions were unstable to gravitational separation. At low SORs (0.1 and 0.5), emulsions produced with phospholipids had a smaller particle diameter than those produced with a synthetic surfactant (Tween 80), but at a higher SOR (1.0), this trend was reversed. High-energy methods (microfluidization and sonication) formed significantly smaller droplets (d < 10 µm) than spontaneous emulsification. The results from this study show that low-energy methods could be utilized with natural surfactants for applications for which fine droplets are not essential.

Optimization of isothermal low-energy nanoemulsion formation: hydrocarbon oil, non-ionic surfactant, and water systems.

Nanoemulsions can be fabricated using either high-energy or low-energy methods, with the latter being advantageous because of ease of implementation, lower equipment and operation costs, and higher energy efficiency. In this study, isothermal low-energy methods were used to spontaneously produce nanoemulsions using a model system consisting of oil (hexadecane), non-ionic surfactant (Brij 30) and water. Rate and order of addition of surfactant, oil and water into the final mixture were investigated to identify optimal conditions for producing small droplets. The emulsion phase inversion (EPI) and spontaneous emulsion (SE) methods were found to be the most successful, which both require the surfactant to be mixed with the oil phase prior to production. Order of addition and surfactant-to-oil ratio (SOR) influenced the particle size distribution, while addition rate and stirring speed had a minimal effect. Emulsion stability was strongly influenced by storage temperature, with droplet size increasing rapidly at higher temperatures, which was attributed to coalescence near the phase inversion temperature. Nanoemulsions with a mean particle diameter of approximately 60 nm could be produced using both EPI and SE methods at a final composition of 5% hexadecane and 1.9% Brij 30, and were relatively stable to droplet growth at temperatures <25 °C.