Formulation and Stability Characterization of Rutin-Loaded Oil-in-Water Emulsions

In this work, formulation and characterization of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions loaded with rutin were successfully overhead. We investigated the effect of homogenization pressure on the mean droplet size, droplet size distribution, physical stability, and rutin retention of these emulsions. O/W emulsions with a mean droplet size (d3,2) of about 150 nm and a span of nearly the unit were formulated by microfluidization at the homogenization pressure 20–150 MPa. The O/W emulsion droplets loaded with rutin were physically stable in terms of variations of d3,2 and span during 30 days of storage in the dark condition at 4 and 25 °C. The creaming velocity was characterized using centrifugal method showing a relative good shelf life. HPLC analysis demonstrated that 71–85% of initial rutin was retained in the fresh O/W emulsions and declined to 22–35% (w/w) for 30-day storage at 25 °C. Antioxidant activity assays confirmed that rutin-loaded emulsion participated in the antioxidant activity after encapsulation similarly to pure rutin. These results indicate that O/W emulsion systems can function as potential delivery systems to enhance bioavailability to encapsulate liposoluble antioxidant rutin for potential applications in the food industry.