Preparation and characterization of emulgels loaded with sweet fennel oil

Abstract

Stable emulgels formulated with sweet fennel oil, an essential oil with antioxidant and antibacterial activity, and a fumed silica (Aerosil 200) were prepared. A nylon membrane was the emulsification system chosen, which lead to high droplet sizes and poor stability. However, the addition of Aerosil 200 provoked the formation of stable emulgels. Rheology, Multiple Light Scattering technique and Scanning Electron Microscopy provided relevant information about the occurrence of a 3D network. Also, these techniques revealed the function of this fumed silica to increase the viscoelastic functions and to improve the physical stability of the emulgels developed. However, the results obtained indicated that the excess of Aerosil 200 is counterproductive for the physical stability inducing flocculation/coalescence.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Essential oils
• sweet fennel oil
• Aerosil 200
• emulgel
• emulsions

Additional information

Funding

The financial support received (Project CTQ2015-70700-P) from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and from the European Commission (FEDER Programme) is kindly acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to Evonik Industries and Quimidroga for providing materials for this research.