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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Nano Structured Emulsion Foods (AYURVEDIC BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS STABILIZED PICKERING DOUBLE EMULSIONS- FABRICATION AND IN VITRO EVALUATION)

Teaser

Summary

Among European countries, UK has the highest number of obese people (> 20%) and it costs to the UK economy ~ Â£3 billion per year. Obesity is now becoming the major cause for type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc. Hence, there is an urgent need to ease this strain. In this context, there has been a considerable impetus among food scientists & manufacturers to design food products, which are rich in healthy functional components & less in fat that is the main source of energy. Direct replacement of fat content in foods compromises their organoleptic properties e.g. mouth feel, texture etc. Use of emulsions (biphasic dispersions) is a smart way of engineering the food microstructure to enable reduction of the caloric value of food products. However, they are thermodynamically unstable and require stabilizers.
Ayurvedic Bioactive Components (ABC) can potentially be used as Pickering particles to stabilise emulsions. Use of ABC for emulsion stabilization is a particularly attractive strategy because not only will they stabilise the structure but they will also increase the nutritional value of the foods . However, due to their unfavourable particle characteristics (large polydispersed particles size, uncontrolled shape etc.) they have not yet been fully exploited as Pickering particles.engineer the particle characteristics of ABC to enhance their Pickering ability and bring ABC for food applications.

Work performed

\"In this project we have used creative integration of concepts and methods from multiple disciplines such as pharmaceutical science, food chemistry, nanotechnology, particle engineering for engineering the particle characteristics to enhance their Pickering ability to stabilize the structures e.g. emulsions which can be further used to design food products, which are rich in healthy functional components & less in fat.

In this regard, I have recently developed a novel and innovative bottom-up approach for the fabrication of nanoparticles using microwave energy. This microwave assisted nanonization technology can be used to fabricate particles of organic compounds (bioactives and drug compounds) to engineer their particle charecteristics to alter their Pickering ability. Further, this nanonization technology can also be used to overcome the problem of low aqueous solubility by manipulating particle charecteristics such as size, shape and polymorphism. Another key advantage of using microwave energy is that, it allows nanoparticle fabrication without the use of organic solvents (using superheated water) or it enables efficient removal of organic solvents from the reaction mixture due to solvent specific heating behavior, which depends on solvents dielectric properties. Due to rising environmental concerns, such sustainable processing technologies are becoming increasingly important. In this direction, our invention is a step change in the development of green processing technology for particle engineering in food and pharmaceutical sector. This work resulted in the patent application (â€œNovel Nanonization\"\") and also this was presented in the 7th International Colloids Conference in Spain.

My work also focuses on the fabrication of micro/nanostructured particles to engineer the food microstructure to enhance its functional properties. Specific contributions in this area include the use of nanonization technology to enhance the Pickering ability of particles, for example, curcumin by manipulating the particle behaviour at the oil and water interface. Here nanonization technology has been used to fabricate nanosized and monodispersed particles of curcumin, which is polydispersed, and micron sized particle in its native form. This nanonized curcumin has been used to stabilize the oil in water Pickering emulsions. These Pickering stabilized emulsions can be used to design the food microstructure to reduce the fat content e.g. in mayonnaise. Use of ABC for emulsion stabilization is a particularly attractive strategy because they not only stabilise the structure (emulsion) but also increases the nutritional value of the foods (i.e. dual functionality). This work has been published recently in the Food Chemistry Journal. Further, initial results were presented in the IUFoST 2016, 18th World Congress of Food Science and Technology and Food CIM Annual Conference - 2016. University of Nottingham, UK\"

Final results

Currently nanoparticles are used in both the food and pharmaceutical industry to overcome the problems of pharmacokinetic mismatch (low solubility, dissolution rate ) to enhance the bioavailability of the actives (drug compounds and nutraceuticals). Developing nanoparticle manufacturing systems, which is flexible and also has application in multiple sectors is the need of the hour. In this regard, I have successfully explored the possibility of using microwave energy for fabrication of nanoparticles by bottom-up approach (anti-solvent precipitation).Microwave energy is one of the alternative sources of energy, which is currently used both in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. For example, in the food sector it is used for the pasteurization and/or sterilization of foods. In pharmaceutical industry, it is used to synthesize peptides, synthetic drug compounds etc.
Thus, finding a new application of microwave energy in the food and pharmaceutical sector in addition to the existing applications will be a major achievement towards developing flexible manufacturing system. Further, due to bespoke design of the microwave instrument, the evaporated solvent can be recondensed and reused. Thus it will be a in an important step in the development of green process.

My work also focused on the fabrication of micro/nanostructured particles to engineer the food microstructure to enhance its functional properties. Specific contributions in this area include the use of nanonization technology to enhance the Pickering ability of particles, for example, curcumin by manipulating the particle behaviour at the oil and water interface. Here nanonization technology has been used to fabricate nanosized and monodispersed particles of curcumin, which is polydispersed, and micron sized particle in its native form. This nanonized curcumin has been used to stabilize the oil in water Pickering emulsions. These Pickering stabilized emulsions can be used to design the food microstructure to reduce the fat content e.g. mayonnaise. Use of ABC for emulsion stabilization is a particularly attractive strategy because they not only stabilize the structure (emulsion) but also increases the nutritional value of the foods.

Thus, from the advancement made from this project, society will be benefitted by the availability of potent drug products and healthy foods.