Critical Review of Techniques for Food Emulsion Characterization

Emulsions have garnered significant attention within a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, food production, and cosmetics. The importance of emulsions across these sectors is attributed to their versatility and unique properties, such as increased interfacial area and the ability to deliver compounds insoluble in water or to mask the flavor of unpalatable ingredients. A comprehensive and precise assessment of the physicochemical properties, structural features, and stability of emulsions is an indispensable phase in the pursuit of new formulations and the improvement of manufacturing protocols. The characterization of emulsions encompasses an array of methodologies designed to determine their attributes, such as droplet size, distribution, concentration, surface charge, and others. In this review, we explore the techniques most frequently used to characterize emulsions and critically assess the significance each method holds in understanding the behavior and predicting the stability of emulsions. We elucidate the basic principles of these methods while emphasizing what information can be gathered from them, and how to effectively interpret this information to optimize the properties of emulsions, crucial from the standpoints of food and other industries, such as long-term stability and easy processing.