Design of shear-based microfluidic channels for production and stability assessment of food emulsions

Abstract

Shear-based microfluidic devices have been used as valuable tools to produce and characterize emulsions. For these studies to be successful, the material and design of the device must be carefully selected. In particular, few safe materials and surface treatments can be used for food applications, which has hampered the use of droplet microfluidics to assess complex food-grade emulsions. Despite the recent extensive use of glass-based devices, PDMS-based channels emerge as the most suitable option for food emulsions due to their easy reproduction, allowing for cost-effective design modification and adaptation. However, to fully explore PDMS devices to both study and produce oil-in-water food emulsions, surface treatments are required. Here, the reader will find not only the recent advances in the use of shear-based microfluidic devices to produce/study emulsions but also perspectives related to surface treatments that are essential for the development of cost-effective and efficient microfluidic devices for exploring food emulsions. • Proper material choice and microfluidic device design is critical to successful emulsion study • Study of complex food emulsions within microfluidic devices is still limited due to possible interactions of food ingredients with the device • PDMS-based microfluidic devices functionalized by deposition of biopolymers hold promise for studying complex O/W food emulsions