Nanoemulsions: Industrial Production and Food-Grade Applications

Abstract

The heterogeneous dispersion of two immiscible liquids forming a metastable system, with sizes ranging from 20 to 1000 nm generate nanoemulsions. Nanoemulsions are capable of efficiently delivering bioactive and flavoring molecules by crossing biological obstruction. These polymer systems in the food industry are designed to maintain the functionality of the active ingredients such as digestibility and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. A nanoemulsion maintains profitable concerns over conventional systems due to its high optical clarity, surface area, surface reactivity, good physical stability and better bioavailability of the substances that are encapsulated. Nanoemulsions can be produced by low and high energy methods, but there is a substantial interest towards low energy methods, since the latter are suitable to produce beverages such as soft drinks or fortified water, since the final product contains relatively less amount of surfactant. These systems can also serve as an effective platform for the incorporation of nutrients, nutraceuticals and vitamins. The objective of this chapter was to analyze the different methods of production of nanoemulsions, in particular the low energy methods and the applications of food grade nanoemulsions.