Ultrasonic processing of butter oil (ghee) into oil-in-water emulsions

摘要

Butter oil (ghee) derived from cow or buffalo milk is in semi-solid form at room temperature and contains >99% of lipids. Apparent high viscosity and water immiscibility - owing to the hydrophobic nature of lipid components hinder the applicability of butter oil for formulations. Here, we have employed ultrasonic processing technique to create oil-in-water emulsions of butter oil. We show that the butter oil is capable of self-stabilizing an emulsion at low concentration while higher concentrations could be kinetically stabilized using pluronic stabilizer. We were able to modulate water contents of emulsions in the range of 80%-95% and maintain the particle size in submicron range. Reported butter oil emulsions retain hydrophobic properties of the original butter oil within cores of dispersed particles, overcome a problem of butter oil-water immissibility, display fluid consistency, and are stable for several months. These properties are highly suitable for developing food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic formulations.