Production of fat-based emulsion powder by prilling process using twin-fluid atomizer for controlled release of iron

Encapsulation of iron is necessary to supply bioavailable iron to large number of population possess iron deficiency. In the present study, we dispersed the iron solution in a fat matrix of palm stearin, and prepared the simple emulsion (water-in-oil) at 60 ◦C, where fat was a continuous phase. Using that emulsion, we produced fat based emulsion particles through prilling (spray + chilling) process using twin fluid atomizers (internal mixing). We characterized the particle in terms of size and size distribution, and investigated the internal structure of the fatparticles by cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) for observing the distribution or homogeneity of dispersed phase. Present study includes mainly the iron release kinetics through the fat matrix of the emulsion particle in an in-vitro gastric system (pH ≈ 2.0 ) as a function of (a) particle size of prills, (b) thickener concentration (polyethylene glycol, PEG) in dispersed phase, (c) droplet size of dispersed phase, (d) mixing properties (Reynolds number, Re), and (e) shelf-life of particles. The release kinetics was explained by the second order kinetics, where we estimated the release kinetic constant, and co-related with the viscosity ratio of dispersed phase to continuous phase, mean particle size of emulsion, and shelf-life of particles. The result showed that the control of the release properties can be obtained by choosing particle size and thickener concentration

Parameters influencing cocrystallization and polymorphism in milk fat

Dry fractionation of milk fat is a common technique used to produce fat fractions with physical properties that are suitable for a variety of food and pharmaceutical products. During milk fat fractionation, the partial crystallization of triacylglycerols from the melt is the most important step. The efficiency of the separation of the crystals from the suspension is also important, but the crystallization itself influences the chemical composition and thereby determines the properties of the crystal fraction. At low supercooling, the crystallization kinetics are slow, and thus process time is increased. With increased kinetics due to a strong supersaturation, the chemical composition of the crystals is changed compared to crystals formed under slow kinetic conditions. This study shows to what extent controlled temperature and supercooling during milk fat crystallization influence crystal amount and the physical properties of the resulting fractions. Differences of the thermal characteristics of the crystal suspensions are directly detected by differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance. At slow crystallization kinetics, the melting temperature range of the crystals in the suspensions is broader, and the resolution of the melting peak is higher. It is shown that compound crystals are formed when supercooling is performed, even if the supercooling takes place only for a short period of time. Controlled temperature conditions during crystallization govern larger differences in the fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition of the liquid and of the crystalline phases, compared to fractions crystallized under supercooling conditions, which contain a high amount of compound crystal

Viscosity of a Newtonian fluid calculated from the deformation of droplets covered with a surfactant under a linear shear flow

The viscosity of small fluid droplets covered with a surfactant is determined using drop deformation techniques. This method, proposed by Hu and Lips, is here extended to the case of the presence of a surface-active adsorpted at the liquid-liquid interface, to consider more general scenarios. In these experiments, a droplet is sheared by another immiscible fluid of known viscosity, both Newtonian liquids. From the steady-state deformation and retraction mechanisms, the droplet viscosity is calculated using an equation derived from the theories of Taylor and Rallison. Although these theories were expressed for surfactant-free interfaces, they can be applied when a surfactant is present in the system if the sheared droplet reaches reliable steady-state deformations and the surfactant attains its equilibrium adsorption concentration. These determinations are compared to bulk viscosities measured in a rheometer for systems with different viscosity ratios and surfactant concentrations. Very good agreement between both determinations is found for drops more viscous than the continuous phas

In-line measurement of tempered cocoa butter and chocolate by means of near-infrared spectroscopy

In the present work cocoa butter and chocolate were precrystallized by means of a newly developed shear crystallizer. The shear crystallizer was integrated into a circular loop. The handling of precrystallized cocoa butter showed a high dependency on the timing of applied analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry, calorimetry, rheometry, and in-line near-infrared (NIR) were all directly influenced by the fat crystal structure. Nevertheless, for cocoa butter it was shown that mechanical energy input (rpm) had a significant influence on viscosity, melting enthalpy, and slope at the second point of inflection of a temper curve. Experiments with cocoa butter at constant exit temperature showed a linear increase of viscosity between 0.1 and 0.8 Pa·s in the range of 300 to 1300 rpm. Melting enthalpy increased in the same rpm interval from 0.02 to 2.5 J/g. Solidification time (from 4.5 to 0.5 min) and slope (from 0.82 to 0.15, second point of inflection of temper curve) consequently decreased (both with exponential approximation). For cocoa butter, slope and solidification time correlated linearly whereas solidification time and viscosity followed a power law fit. This proved that defined relationships exist between rheological data and data from temper curve measurements. Viscosity was linearly dependent on crystal content. By means of NIR spectroscopy good correlation models for cocoa butter viscosity, enthalpy (crystal content), and slope values were found. For precrystallized chocolate, analytical values such as viscosity and slope values were detected off-line and used for calibration of NIR spectroscop

Modification of the CAB Model for Air-Assist Atomization of Food Sprays

The Cascade Atomization and Drop Breakup (CAB) model has been originally developed for pressure atomizers. In this study, the CAB model is modified to accommodate the atomization of low-pressure, air-assist atomizers. The modifications include the first breakup which is modeled by estimating theWeber number due to the increased liquid-gas relative velocity caused by the air flow. This breakup depends on whether the Weber number is in the catastrophic, stripping or bag breakup regime. The second modification includes a change in the product drop distributions, namely, instead of a uniform distribution, as used in the original CAB model, a X-squared distribution with the same average drop size is assumed. The model changes are validated with experimental data obtained by means of two different air-assist atomizers using an oil-in-water emulsion. The simulations are performed with a modified version of the KIVA-3 CFD code; they show good agreement with the experiments

Rheology of concentrated suspensions containing mixtures of spheres and fibres

Optimising flow properties of concentrated suspensions is an important issue common for many industries. The rheology of concentrated suspensions has therefore been studied intensively both experimentally and theoretically. Most studies have focused on monodisperse and polydisperse suspensions of either spheres or fibres. In practice, most suspensions contain particles that are polydisperse both in size and shape. A mixing rule for such systems is expected to be a powerful tool for engineers and product designers. Therefore in this work, suspensions of spheres, fibres and mixtures thereof were characterised using rotational shear rheometry and in-line image analyses. Thereby, total solids volume concentration and fibre fraction was varied. Results from transient and steady-state shear rheometry are discussed with respect to concentration, fibre fraction, and shear induced microstructure. Experimentally obtained viscosity data were accurately fitted using the model proposed by Farris (T Soc Rheol 12:281, 1968) for mixtures of monodisperse non-interacting spheres of different size

Single bubble deformation and breakup in simple shear flow

Experiments in a parallel band apparatus and a transparent concentric cylinder device allow the observation of bubble deformation (shape and orientation) and breakup as a function of the viscosity ratio λ and the Capillary number Ca. For viscosity ratios between 3.1×10−7 and 6.7×10−8, critical Capillary numbers Ca c for bubble breakup between 29 and 45 are found. It is furthermore shown that in the given parameter space no clear distinction between tip breakup and fracture can be made for bubble

Effect of lactose on rheology of milk protein dispersions

ABSTRACT A systematic study of the flow behaviour of commercially available AME100 milk protein dispersed in water and the effect of lactose on the rheology of the system was performed at various concentration with Ubbelohde viscometry in the dilute regime and with rotational shear rheometry in the semidilute and concentrated regime. Intrinsic viscosity and overlap threshold of the lactose free system was quantified. Concentrated dispersions showed enhanced dependency of viscosity on concentration, pronounced shear thinning and elastic properties were evident. Addition of small amounts of milk protein to lactose solutions resulted in a decrease of solution viscosity while in semidilute and concentrated dispersions the viscosity was raised to a higher extent than would have been expected through the increase of solvent viscosity upon lactose addition. Findings show that changed protein-protein and proteinsolvent interactions in the presence of lactose in the solvent affects the flow behaviour of the investigated system

Simultaneous visualization of the flow inside and around droplets generated in microchannels

This paper reports the visualization of droplet formation in co-flowing microfluidic devices using food-grade aqueous biopolymer-surfactant solutions as the dispersed droplet phase and sunflower oil as the continuous phase. Microparticle image velocimetry and streak imaging techniques are utilized to simultaneously recover the velocity profiles both within and around the dispersed phase during droplet formation and detachment. Different breakup mechanisms are found for Newtonian-Newtonian and non-Newtonian-Newtonian model water-in-oil emulsions, emphasizing the influence of process and material parameters such as the flow rates of both phases, interfacial tension, and the elastic properties of the non-Newtonian droplet phase on the droplet formation detachment dynamics

Dextromethorphan abuse among opioid-dependent patients

Background: Among opioid-dependent patients on maintenance therapy, concomitant drug abuse is a serious problem. Dextromethorphan, an over-the-counter antitussive agent that can be purchased without prescription, is a drug with a high potential for misuse, especially when consumed in high doses.The objective of this study was to investigate possible abuse of dextromethorphan among substituted opioid-dependent patients and comparison of subjective and objective findings.Due to its ability to increase serotonin levels, opioid-dependent patients may be particularly susceptible to dextromethorphan misuse. Dextromethorphan misuse may have side effects, including psychiatric symptoms and serotonin syndrome, and may induce assault, suicide, or homicide. Methods: A total of 104 opioid-dependent patients in maintenance treatment were included in this cross-sectional study conducted in the outpatient department of the Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich. Study participants were divided into 2 groups based on laboratory results: dextromethorphan abusers (n = 12) and nonabusers (n = 92). The objective use and concentrations of dextromethorphan was detected using 3-month hair toxicology analysis.Statistical analysis was performed by using χ test, Student t test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Barnard exact test. Results: Dextromethorphan was abused by 12 (11.5%) patients, 11 (91.7%) of whom did not report concomitant abuse of dextromethorphan but were identified through hair analysis. In general, there were significant differences among patients abusing dextromethorphan compared with nondextromethorphan consumers in terms of trauma due to sexual maltreatment/violence, multiple traumas, or harmful use of hallucinogenic drugs. Conclusions: Further studies are necessary to examine dextromethorphan and its impact on patients with psychiatric comorbidities and psychiatric medication. According to literature, there is a significant drug interaction risk due to the impact of dextromethorphan misuse on serotonin syndrome and psychiatric symptoms. We recommend active inquiry into and testing for concomitant drug abuse among substituted opioid-dependent patients to reduce the risk of drug interactions and side effects in this especially vulnerable group of patients