Stability and Uniformity of Oil Droplets in Preparation of O/W Emulsion Agar Gel

Abstract

We investigated the stability of a monodispersed o/w emulsion and the uniformity of oil droplet distribution in an agar-based emulsion gel during successive stages of gel preparation. At each stage of the emulsion-sol preparation, almost no differences in the droplet diameter and number in excess of the range of measurement error were found. These results directly indicate that the monodispersity of the emulsion was maintained before and after heating of the agar sol. To evaluate oil droplet uniformity in the emulsion gel, sections of 5 mm in height were cut from the top, middle and bottom of the emulsion gel. No differences were found in the number of oil droplets and the coefficient of variation of droplet sizes in top, middle and bottom sections of the gels with oil volume fractions ranging from 0.01 to 0.27 in any of the emulsion gels.