Fabrication and characterization of β-carotene emulsions stabilized by soy oleosin and lecithin mixtures with a composition mimicking natural soy oleosomes

Natural soy oleosomes are known to have a remarkable stability, given the advantage of their sophisticated membrane. The aim of the present study is to examine the concept of fabricating a β-carotene emulsion stabilized by soy oleosin (OLE) and lecithin (LEC) mixtures mimicking the membrane composition of soy oleosomes while providing preferable stability and bioaccessibility. For this, the fabricated emulsion was characterized in terms of droplet size distribution, and emulsion structure, stability and digestion (release and absorption of lipophilic β-carotene). Compared to SPI/LEC (10 : 1) stabilized emulsions, the OLE/LEC (10 : 1) mixture stabilized emulsion exhibited the highest emulsifying activity index (EAI) and emulsifying stability index (ESI) values, and higher encapsulation efficiency. Results show that the β-carotene emulsion stabilized by OLE and LEC mixtures at the ratio of 10 : 1 (w/w) has the most uniform droplet distribution and highest stability. The in vitro gastrointestinal digestion test revealed that the β-carotene emulsion stabilized by OLE and LEC mixtures was digested more rapidly than the emulsion stabilized by soy protein isolate (SPI) and LEC mixtures. In turn, the bioaccessibility and cellular uptake of β-carotene were enhanced, resulting in a higher absorption, a desirable feature of nutrition delivery systems. Our results demonstrated a promising way to fabricate emulsions mimicking natural soy oleosomes.