Emerging applications of microfluidization in the food industry

In recent times, microfluidization has emerged as a novel processing technology. With meticulously designed interaction chamber and high-performing pump, unique pressure profiles are generated which perform cavitation, and develop shear, velocity, and turbulence. Primarily evolved as a homogenization technique, it provides significantly lower droplet size and narrow size distribution compared to other high-energy techniques such as high-pressure homogenization and ultrasonication. However, it is susceptible to over-processing, resulting in reduced stability of emulsions. Therefore, careful optimization of processing conditions is a crucial step. The present work discusses the applications of microfluidization in this aspect and comparison with the aforementioned techniques. Furthermore, microfluidization finds successful applications in the field of encapsulation, extraction, and modification of biological molecules. These aspects are also discussed with their advantages and limitations. To conclude, the challenges in the industrial scale-up of microfluidization are discussed in detail. Overall, microfluidization holds tremendous potential for several applications in the food industry

Development of Screen-Printed Electrode Biosensor for Rapid Determination of Triglyceride Content in Coconut Milk

The screen-printed electrode biosensor was developed for triglyceride determination in coconut milk. The biosensor was developed by adding lipase, glycerol-3-phosphate (GPO), and glycerol kinase (GK), which is immobilized to a gelatin solution. The concentration of triglyceride is found to be linear to the current produced. The developed screen-printed electrode biosensor showed the optimum response for pH 7.0, 45 mg amount of gelatin, 2.5% glutaraldehyde concentration solution. The developed biosensor was able to find triolein concentrations 0.1 to 1.5 mM. The correlation obtained between these two methods was 93% which was found to be good

Impact of different emulsification techniques on the stability of coconut milk

Phase separation (fat and aqueous phases) limits the applicability and marketability of coconut milk. In this work, coconut milk was supplemented with whey protein and Tween-80 before being subjected to either of three high-energy emulsification techniques (high shear homogenization, ultrasonication, and microfluidization). The impact of these treatments on coconut milk was evaluated and compared over a period of one week. These processes resulted in droplet sizes of 517.25 ± 3.18 nm, 311.6 ± 11.31 nm, and 205.9 ± 4.53 nm, respectively. With narrower size distribution, microfluidized samples did not undergo separation for 7 days under refrigerated conditions whereas homogenized and ultrasonicated samples separated within 2 and 8 h, respectively. This was also endorsed by the highest absolute zeta potential value reported by microfluidization (−23.2 ± 0.99 mV). The viscosity and color values also showed significant differences between the treated and control samples. Microfluidization showed the highest viscosity value of 5.09 ± 0.07 cP compared to other techniques, due to its ability to produce finer droplets. This study provides insights into the improvement of stability of milk alternatives that are prone to phase separation issues