Rheological properties of a double emulsion nutraceutical system incorporating chia essential oil and ascorbic acid stabilized by carbohydrate polymer-protein blends

Four water-in-oil-in water (W-1/O/W-2) double emulsions were made by adding the primary emulsion (W-1/O) containing 74% (w/w) of chia essential oil, 6% (w/w) of ascorbic acid, and a 0.2 dispersed phase mass fraction (phi(W1/O)) to aqueous solutions (W-2) of mesquite gum (MG), maltodextrin DE-10 (MD) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) in different proportions (MG66-MD17-WPC17 and MG17-MD66-WPC17), and in a ratio of 1:2.12 and 1:4.12 W-1/O to dry biopolymers blends solids. All the double emulsions showed type C morphologies and only slight changes in the volume-weighted mean diameter (d(4.3)) throughout the storage time, indicative of good stability, despite they presented bimodal size distributions, but the double emulsion formulated with a predominant proportion of MD and ratio 1:2.12 provided a higher stability against droplet coalescence. All the double emulsions displayed viscoelastic character dependent on frequency. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.