MICROEMULSÕES: COMPONENTES, CARACTERÍSTICAS, POTENCIALIDADES EM QUÍMICA DE ALIMENTOS E OUTRAS APLICAÇÕES

• Main Authors: José Dilson F. da Silva, Yara P. da Silva, Clarisse M. S. Piatnicki, Wolmir José Böckel, Carla R. B. Mendonça
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2015-11-01
• Series: Química Nova
• Subjects: thermodynamically stable systems; organized environments; O/W microemulsion; W/O microemulsion
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422015000901196&lng=en&tlng=en

Microemulsions (MEs) are thermodynamically stable systems consisting of nanosized droplets dispersed in a solvent continuous medium (known as pseudo-phase), which is immiscible with the dispersed phase. These systems consist of water, a hydrophobic solvent called "oil," an amphiphile and often, a co-surfactant that is normally a medium chain alcohol. A large number of publications describe the importance of MEs in many branches of chemistry, and there is an intensive search for new applications. In addition, MEs have been applied in many areas, including oil extraction, removal of environmental pollutants from soils and effluents, dissolution of additives in lubricants and cutting oils, cleaning processes, dyeing and textile finishing, as nanoreactors to obtain nanoparticles of metals, semiconductors, superconductors, magnetic and photographic materials, and latex. However, only some studies indicate the potential applications of MEs in food and even fewer evaluate their chemical behavior. Potential applications of MEs in food comprise dissolution of lipophilic additives, stabilization of nutrients and biologically active compounds, using as an antimicrobial agent and to maximize the efficiency of food preservatives. This work consists of a literature review focusing on composition and physical and chemical characteristics of microemulsions. Despite the small number of studies on the subject reported in the literature, we demonstrate some potential applications of MEs in food chemistry.