Optimization of cinnamon oil nanoemulsions using phase inversion temperature method: Impact of oil phase composition and surfactant concentration

Piyanan Chuesiang; Ubonrat Siripatrawan; Romanee Sanguandeekul; Lynne McLandsborough; David Julian McClements

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2017.11.084

Optimization of cinnamon oil nanoemulsions using phase inversion temperature method: Impact of oil phase composition and surfactant concentration

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Mar 15:514:208-216. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.11.084. Epub 2017 Dec 1.

Authors

Piyanan Chuesiang¹, Ubonrat Siripatrawan², Romanee Sanguandeekul³, Lynne McLandsborough⁴, David Julian McClements⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; The Novel Technology for Food Packaging & Control of Shelf Life Research Group, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: Piyanan.Chu@student.chula.ac.th.
² Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; The Novel Technology for Food Packaging & Control of Shelf Life Research Group, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: ubonratana.s@chula.ac.th.
³ Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: sromanee@chula.ac.th.
⁴ Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: lm@foodscience.umass.edu.
⁵ Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: mcclements@foodscience.umass.edu.

PMID: 29257975
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.11.084

Abstract

Essential oils, such as those isolated from cinnamon, are effective natural antimicrobial agents, but their utilization is limited by their low water-solubility. In this study, phase inversion temperature (PIT) was used to prepare cinnamon oil nanoemulsions. To this aim, it was hypothesized that cinnamon oil nanoemulsions could be fabricated by optimizing the oil phase composition and surfactant concentration of the system and their stability could be enhanced using a cooling-dilution method during the PIT. A mixture of cinnamon oil, non-ionic surfactant, and water was heated above the PIT of the system, and then rapidly cooled with continuous stirring, which led to the spontaneous generation of small oil droplets. The impact of oil phase composition and surfactant concentration on the formation and stability of the nanoemulsions was determined. Cinnamon oil nanoemulsions with the smallest mean droplet diameter (101 nm) were formed using 40:60 wt% of cinnamon oil and medium chain triglyceride (MCT) in the total lipid phase. Increasing surfactant concentration significantly decreased the mean droplet diameter of the nanoemulsions but did not alter their particle morphology. In addition, using the cooling-dilution method, the nanoemulsions were stable for at least 31 days when stored at 4 °C or 25 °C.

Keywords: Cinnamon oil; Nanoemulsions; Natural product; Phase inversion temperature; Stability.