Edible nanoemulsions: fabrication, properties, and functional performance

There is increasing interest within the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries in utilizing edible nanoemulsions to encapsulate, protect and deliver lipophilic functional components, such as oil-soluble flavors, vitamins, preservatives, nutraceuticals, and drugs. There are a number of potential advantages of using nanoemulsions rather than conventional emulsions for this purpose: they can greatly increase the bioavailability of lipophilic substances; they scatter light weakly and so can be incorporated into optically transparent products; they can be used to modulate the product texture; and they have a high stability to particle aggregation and gravitational separation. On the other hand, there may also be some risks associated with the oral ingestion of nanoemulsions, such as their ability to change the biological fate of bioactive components within the gastrointestinal tract and the potential toxicity of some of the components used in their fabrication. This tutorial review provides an overview of the current status of nanoemulsion fabrication, properties, and applications with special emphasis on systems suitable for utilization within the food industry.