Emulsion-based delivery systems: reviewing digestion models and interfacial design

26 Nov 2010

Issues 1 and 2 of Food & Function are now here, and the vision of pulling together high impact chemical and physical research and linking it to human health and nutrition is starting to be fulfilled.

This week on the blog we are highlighting reviews published from the physics community.

In Issue 1 ‘Review of in vitro digestion models for rapid screening of emulsion-based systems’ by David Julian McClements and Yan Li looks at the current status of in vitro digestion models for simulating lipid digestion. Emulsion-based delivery systems are being developed to encapsulate, protect, and release non-polar lipids, vitamins, nutraceuticals and drugs. There is, therefore, of increasing interest in the food and pharmaceutical industries to understand and control the digestion of these emulsified lipids. To do this, in vitro digestion models which simulate the human gastrointestinal tract are needed to test the efficacy of different approaches for controlling lipid digestion.

As a continuation, Issue two contains a review which covers the physico-chemical changes occurring in emulsion based delivery systems during gastric and small intestine digestion. In ‘Interfacial design of protein-stabilized emulsions for optimal delivery of nutrients’ by Amir Malaki Nik, Amanda J. Wright and Milena Corredig protein-stabilised oil-in-water emulsions are focused on. Proteins are often used as ingredients in food emulsions, as their amphiphilic structures provide electrostatic and steric stabilisation. A better understanding of how to tailor the composition of oil droplet surfaces in food emulsions will aid in optimizing lipid digestion and, as a result, delivery of lipophilic nutrients.