Elaboration and Properties of an Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsion Loaded with a Terpene-Enriched Oil Mixture Obtained Biotechnologically

Abstract

Biotechnological production is an economical and sustainable pathway to produce some natural terpenes of major industrial importance such as limonene (LIM) and α-terpineol (α-TOH). Thus, in this article, the raw and nonpurified product obtained from the LIM biotransformation (mixture of soybean oil, LIM, and α-TOH), namely as a biotransformation product (BP), was encapsulated into nanoemulsion (NEs) using Quillaja saponins as a natural small-molecule surfactant. Since the long-term physicochemical stability of the NEs is questionable, the emulsion was kept at different storage temperatures (5, 25, 50 °C) up to 280 days, turbidity and mean droplet diameter being selected as destabilization criteria. Furthermore, gas chromatography was applied to track and monitor the concentration of LIM and α-TOH that could be retained in NEs over time. The NEs that were kept at both 5 and 25 °C were considered stable up to the 280th day, although these monoterpenes were more retained in an emulsion stored at 5 °C. The results also showed that the NEs displayed substantial physicochemical stability at room temperature, indicating that the encapsulation of the BP may work as an alternative natural-friendly nanocolloidal system to deliver these monoterpenes in foodstuff.