As emulsifiers become saturated on
the surface of an emulsion droplet, any additional emulsifier migrates to the
aqueous phase. Continuous phase surfactants have been shown to increase
α-tocopherol efficacy, but it is unclear if this is the result
of chemical or physical effects. The addition of α-tocopherol
to an oil-in-water emulsion after homogenization resulted in a 70%
increase of α-tocopherol in the continuous phase when sodium
dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was at levels that were greater than the SDS
critical micelle concentration. Conversely, when α-tocopherol
was dissolved in the lipid before emulsification, continuous phase
SDS concentrations did not increase. When SDS concentration led to
an increase in the aqueous phase α-tocopherol, the oxidative
stability of oil-in-water emulsions increased. Data indicated that
the increased antioxidant activity was the result of surfactant micelles
being able to decrease the prooxidant activity of α-tocopherol.
Considering these results, surfactant micelles could be an important
tool to increase the effectiveness of α-tocopherol.
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