title: Crocin loaded nano-emulsions: Factors affecting emulsion properties in spontaneous emulsification.
abstract: Spontaneous emulsification may be used for encapsulating bioactive compounds in food and pharmaceutical industry. It has several advantages over high energy and other low energy methods including, protecting sensitive compounds against severe conditions of high energy method and its ability to minimize surfactant, removal of cosurfactant and thermal stability compared with other low energy methods. In this study, we examined possibility of encapsulating highly soluble crocin in W/O micro-emulsions using spontaneous method which further could be used for making double emulsions. Nonionic surfactants of Span 80 and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) were used for making micro-emulsions that showed the high potential of PGPR for spontaneous method. Surfactant to water ratio (SWR%) was evaluated to find the highest amount of aqueous phase which can be dispersed in organic phase. Droplet size decreased by increasing SWR toward the SWR=100% which had the smallest droplet size and then increased at higher levels of surfactant. By increasing SWR, shear viscosity increased which showed the high effect of PGPR on rheological properties. This study shows in addition to W/O micro-emulsions, spontaneous method could be used for preparing stable O/W micro-emulsions.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad-Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mehrnia
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran; Cereals Health Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. Electronic address: smjafari@gau.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Seid-Mahdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Nanotechnology Research Center, Ahvaz Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Makhmal-Zadeh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Yahya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maghsoudlou
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003116:Color; D004339:Drug Compounding; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004655:Emulsions; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D002338:Carotenoids; C029036:crocin
keywords: Crocin; Saffron; Spontaneous emulsification