M. Carmen Alfaro

Rheology of sheared gels based on low acyl-gellan gum.

Sheared gels containing 0.2 wt% low-acyl gellan gum were prepared by different processing protocols using Na+ or Ca2+ as gel-promoting ions. Rheology and confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to gain information on the sample structure. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed the formation of a heterogeneous microstructure consisting of a dispersion of gel-like clusters. Small amplitude oscillatory shear stress results indicated that their viscoelastic properties had a predominant elastic component. Flow curves exhibited very high viscosities at low shear stress, an apparent yield stress and very shear thinning behaviour, supporting their applications as a stabilizer.

Development of rosemary essential oil nanoemulsions using a wheat biomass-derived surfactant

In the present work aqueous-based emulsions formulated with bio-based solvents and surfactants were studied. The droplet size distribution, rheology and physical stability of rosemary essential oil/water emulsions formulated with an emulsifier derived from wheat waste (alkyl polypentoside) were investigated as a function of the dispersed phase concentration (10-50 wt%) by means of laser diffraction, multiple light scattering and rheology measurements. Subsequently, processing variables, such as the pressure and the number of microfluidization passes, were studied to the best formulation (20 wt% rosemary oil). The laser diffraction technique revealed that monodispersed submicron emulsions were obtained for oil phase concentrations below 20 wt%. All emulsions showed Newtonian behavior, except for the emulsion containing 50 wt% oil, which exhibited shear-thinning properties. Moreover, the main destabilization mechanism of all the emulsions was creaming. The combination of techniques used demonstrated that the emulsion containing 20 wt% rosemary essential oil (REO) and prepared by microfluidization at 2500 psi (17.2 MPa) exhibited the longest physical stability and the smallest droplet size after 3passes. This research is a contribution to sustainable development not only by using chemicals derived from renewable raw materials but also by achieving stable emulsions with a low surfactant/oil mass ratio.

Effect of emulsifier HLB and stabilizer addition on the physical stability of thyme essential oil emulsions

ABSTRACT The objective of this work was to formulate and to further improve the stability of emulsions based on thyme essential oil. Several nonionic surfactants of different nature and with different hydrophilic−lipophilic balance (HLB) values were investigated. The surfactant with optimal HLB found for the thyme essential oil was Appyclean 6548 (HLB: 9-9.5). Afterwards, stabilizing biopolymers were added in order to improve emulsion stability. Properties of emulsions were evaluated in terms of droplet size and physical stability. Thyme essential oil/W emulsions formulated with a new biodegradable emulsifier (alkyl polypentoside) and welan gum as stabilizer were obtained with high shelf-life. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Effect of temperature and shear on the microstructure of a microbial polysaccharide secreted by Sphingomonas species in aqueous solution

Diutan gum is a biological polymer produced by Sphingomonas sp. In aqueous solution it shows gel-like structure under quiescent conditions. However, the flow-induced evolution of its viscoelastic properties and its microstructure are not known. In this work, the viscoelastic moduli were obtained under a flow field, applied in parallel, as a function of the temperature for 0.5 wt% diutan gum aqueous solutions. As both stress and temperature increase a decrease in the viscoelastic properties occurred, due to the fact that the molecular interactions decreased. Nevertheless, at stresses within the zero-shear viscosity region of the flow curves, no changes were observed. In addition, high stress values dampened the effect of the temperature. The results obtained are very interesting from an industrial application perspective.

Gellan gum fluid gels: influence of the nature and concentration of gel-promoting ions on rheological properties

Low-acyl gellan gum fluid gels were obtained using two different gel-promoting cations under the same processing conditions, and their rheological properties were investigated. For that reason, stress and frequency sweep measurements and flow curve tests were carried out. Small amplitude oscillatory shear assays demonstrated that these materials exhibit weak gel behavior despite the shape of their mechanical spectra being similar to those obtained from strong gels. However, the existence of a weak gel structure was confirmed by the fact that the difference between the elastic and viscous components was of only one order of magnitude. In addition, a reduction in the storage and lost modules and the viscosity as a function of the applied shear was observed with increasing cation concentration. Finally, in order to produce fluid gels, a higher concentration of the monovalent cation was required than when divalent cations were employed in the low-acyl gellan gum fluid gel formulation.