Effect of polyglycerol esters of fatty acids on physicochemical properties and stability of β‐carotene nanodispersions prepared by emulsification/evaporation method

The effects of six different polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (PGEs) as nonionic emulsifiers on the physicochemical properties and stability of β‐carotene nanoparticles in oil‐in‐water dispersions produced by an emulsification/evaporation technique were examined. The β‐carotene particle size was measured by a laser diffraction technique, and the stability and retention of β‐carotene during various preparation steps and storage were determined by HPLC. In the prepared nanodispersions the β‐carotene particle size decreased with increasing degree of glycerol polymerisation and decreasing carbon number of the fatty acid group in the PGE. The particle size of β‐carotene in nanodispersions containing polyglycerol monooleate was generally larger than that in the presence of polyglycerol monolaurate. During storage at 4 °C, although the β‐carotene content in the nanodispersions showed a significant ( P < 0.05) decrease with increasing storage period, the size distribution of β‐carotene was almost unchanged in all prepared nanodispersions. In general, the mean diameter of β‐carotene nanoparticles ranged from 85 to 132 nm. In the light of their ability to physically stabilise β‐carotene particle formation, it is suggested that PGEs with a high degree of glycerol polymerisation may be useful in the preparation of β‐carotene nanodispersions. The best stabilisation was obtained using 10 g kg −1 decaglycerol monolaurate. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry