Effects of surfactants on the formation and stability of capsaicin-loaded nanoemulsions

Food nanoemulsion systems consisting of water and oleoresin capsicum (OC), polyoxythylene sorbitan esters (Tween 20, 40, 60, and 80), propylene glycol (PG), sucrose monostearate (SM), and their corresponding mixtures were formulated to use as food vehicles. Tween 80 produced OC nanoemulsions with stable dispersions as one-phase systems, and the dertermined emulsification efficiencies clearly distinguished the ability of the various surfactants to emulsify OC. The nanoemulsions were prepared by both ultrasonication and self-assembly, and the nanoemulsion areas were determined using phase diagrams by measuring the sizes of the emulsions. One-phase nanoemulsions were presented, with a multiple cloudy region and phase separation that were dependent on the particle size of the emulsion. The OC nanoemulsions prepared by ultrasonication using systems of OC/Tween 80/water, OC/Tween 80/water+PG, and OC/Tween 80/water+SM, resulted in particle sizes ranging from 15 to 100 nm. Finally, the nanoemulsions maintained their initial sizes during storage, ranging from 65 to 92 nm.