Improvement of physicochemical properties of encapsulated echium oil using nanostructured lipid carriers

Implementing ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA), naturally found in echium oil (EO), can highly improve the nutritional value of fortified foods. However, PUFA is prone to oxidation. In this study, the role of nanostructured lipid carriers incorporated into whey protein isolate (WPI)-stabilized EO droplets in oil-in-water emulsions was analyzed. Lipid carriers such as lauric (LA), palmitic (PA), and stearic (SA) acids were used. The results reveal that lipid carriers, especially LA, improve the physical stability of these droplets by decreasing their particle size by decreasing the number of surface pores; shown by SEM images and XRD data. Rheological data further show that the emulsions incorporated with LA had higher viscosity and there was also a crossover shift to lower strains in the G′-G″ curve of the emulsions incorporating LA. TBARS assay indicated that LA was more effective in protecting EO against oxidation than both palmitic and stearic acids.