Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a major
anionic phospholipid constituent
of membrane bilayers, which is specifically enriched in the cytoplasmic
leaflet, has functions of regulating the intracellular signaling pathways
of neuronal survival and differentiation, and acts as a neurotransmitter
to control the activity of neurons. Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions could
improve the bio-availability of PS. Thus, there is a high level of
interest in PS emulsion because of its purported health benefits.
However, because of high viscosity and poor fluidity, it remains difficult
to make the emulsion. A detailed analysis with suited biophysical
methods would help to better understand the processes on a molecular
level. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to engineer
and characterize a stable O/W phosphatidylserine emulsion. Furthermore,
the effect of emulsifiers mixture, whey protein isolate (WPI), and
Tween 80 (T80), as well as the oil phase was systematically evaluated.
The key parameters were the chain length and the degree of nonsaturation
(sunflower oil, a long-chain triglycerides [LCTs] or a medium-chain
triglycerides [MCTs]). Small droplets of emulsions could be obtained
by adjusting the type of emulsifier and the LCT/MCT ratio. A stable
PS emulsion characterized by a smaller droplet size, higher negative
zeta-potential, lower centrifugal stability constant, and longer storage
time was produced by MCTs T80 (2.0%, w/w) with T80 (2.0%, w/w) as
the emulsifier, and by LCTs with the WPI (0.5%, w/w)T80 (1.5%,
w/w) as the emulsifier, respectively. The PS emulsion with LCTs exhibited
higher viscosity, when compared to the emulsion made by MCT at the
same emulsifier concentration, while all emulsions exhibited a shear
thinning behavior. The microstructure images revealed that the PS
emulsions produced by MCTs and T80 (2.0%, w/w) or WPIs (0.5%, w/w)T80
(1.5%, w/w) mixed with LCTs can form specific uniform networks, in
order to prevent flocculation. After 28 days of storage, no visual
phase separation was observed in the emulsions, except for the PS
emulsion with the WPI (2.0%, w/w). It was concluded that the characteristics
of the interfacial layer of particles in the PS emulsion system were
not only dependent on the proportion of the applied emulsifiers, but
also dependent on the oily phase features. These findings may provide
indications for choosing the suitable process parameters when a stable
PS emulsion is produced.