Development of Microchannel Emulsification Technology for Monodispersed Soybean and Olive Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Emulsions are widely used in food industry, among others. Monosized droplets in emulsions have advantages for control of their properties, and application fields. We have developed microchannel emulsification (MC) technology for monosized droplets formation. The grooved type MC and module were used to characterize MC emulsification, and straight-through MC and module were developed for higher productivity. Both monodisperse oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions with average droplets size ranging 2-200 μm and coefficients of variation (CV) lower than 10% were successfully obtained. Emulsification was significantly affected by MC size and structure. A straight–through MC was highly applicable to emulsification. MC emulsification can also be applied to production of solid-lipid and polymeric microparticles, as well as microcapsules for food and bioprocesses.