Abstract
The potential of oil-in-water emulsions as a β-carotene delivery system was examined in this study. Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing β-carotene were formed by gum arabic with α-tocopherol, tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) and ascorbyl palmitate, respectively. The influence of antioxidants on the chemical degradation of β-carotene in gum arabic stabilized emulsions was investigated at 4, 25, 45 and 65 °C in the dark, respectively. An accelerated photo-oxidation test was carried out at 45 °C (450 W/m(2)). Moreover, β-carotene degradation rate constants (k 1-value), activation energy (E a ) and decimal reduction time (D-value) were estimated to interpret the degradation kinetics. The impact of antioxidants on the thermal stability of β-carotene in diluted emulsions was generally in the following order: α-tocopherol > TBHQ > ascorbyl palmitate. α-Tocopherol was found to be the most effective to the antioxidation of β-carotene at the concentration of 0.10 wt% under light exposure. It was concluded that the stability of β-carotene in oil-in-water emulsions could be improved by the presence of different antioxidants.