Studying the real-time interplay between triglyceride digestion and lipophilic micronutrient bioaccessibility using...

This article is the first part of a series reporting on real-time digestion kinetics of triglyceride droplets containing different lipophilic micronutrients. This part focuses on the design, fabrication, and operation of a polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic device which enables the generation and digestion of oil droplets. The micro-channels were made hydrophilic to obtain oil droplets in an aqueous continuous phase. Optimized chip design and outlet control were implemented to provide efficient oil droplet generation, manipulation, and immobilization on a single chip. Highly monodisperse oil droplets were generated, immobilized in an array of traps and monitored in real time by fluorescence using a confocal microscopy method. The device was used to study the kinetics of beta-carotene release during tricaprylin digestion (intestinal lipolysis and micellar solubilization). The effect of the gastric phase on beta-carotene degradation was also investigated using the same method.