Effect of emulsifier pairs on physical stability of emulsions containing three different natural oils

The purpose of this study was to formulate oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions containing 40% w/w natural oil (i.e., olive oil, rice bran oil, or sesame oil), 10% w/w emulsifier blend, and 50% w/w water. The hydrophile-lipophile balance system was used to calculate the amount of each non-ionic emulsifier in the formulations. All studied oils have an identical required hydrophile-lipophile balance of 7. In emulsifier blend, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate (hydrophile-lipophile balance = 15.0) was fixed as a high hydrophile-lipophile balance emulsifier, while sorbitan monostearate (hydrophile-lipophile balance = 4.7) or sorbitan monooleate (hydrophile-lipophile balance = 4.3) was used as a low hydrophile-lipophile balance emulsifier. The effect of emulsifier pairs on physical properties of the prepared samples was investigated. The physical stability of the emulsions was evaluated at ambient temperature (≈ 30°C) after storage for 30 and 60 days. It was found that emulsifier pairs influenced both characteristics and stability of the samples. Sorbitan monostearate could provide stable emulsions of all studied natural oils when blended with polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate while sorbitan monooleate could not. From the obtained results, it could be concluded that not only suitable hydrophile-lipophile balance but also suitable emulsifier pair were important parameters in emulsion formulations.