Delivery of algae oil into vegan milk through novel O/W emulsions (nano-emulsion and Pickering emulsion) stabilized with seaweed peptides

Health benefits of oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as algae oil, have surged researchers to find efficient ways to deliver these oxidation-prone oils into food products.

One of the hottest areas in this regard is the incorporation of the oils in oil-in-water emulsions; however, the emulsions are physically and oxidatively unstable upon storage, leading to quality deterioration in the final product.

The present study is thus an attempt to stabilize these delivery systems by reducing droplet sizes and forming the so-called nano-emulsions as well as taking such measures as the encapsulation of the oil and incorporation of antioxidant peptides from seaweeds.

Another state-of-the-art measure is the use of bioactive peptides purified from seaweed in a complex with a cationic surfactant as Pickering particles to form stable PUFA-rich oil delivery systems.

The emulsions, either in encapsulated or non-capsulated forms, will then be introduced into oat milk to produce marine oil-enriched vegan food.

A unique characteristic of this research is that bioactive agents will be purified from Palmaria palmata, a seaweed found in Denmark, which can contribute to attaining sustainable development in food technology.

In this sense, one of the most restricting obstacles to using natural peptides is their bitterness; the present study tries to reduce or ideally remove bitterness by electrospraying the emulsions containing these peptides.

This interdisciplinary research will pave the way for prospective researchers to consider the possibility of delivering healthy oil into vegan societies’ food baskets through efficient means in a way that taste and odour of the final products are not sacrificed for this purpose.

The gained expertise in the present project will provide great job opportunities for the applicant because an ever-increasing number of food producers are seeking experts in the field of reducing lipid oxidation in their products and producing enriched vegan foods.