(406h) Multiscale Design of Emulsions with Vegetable Oils of Promising Amazonian Species

Colombia has been classified worldwide as a mega-diverse country, because hosts approximately 10% of life forms reported. It can be considered an advantage, in comparison with other countries, for development of new products and services derived for biodiversity use. Therefore, it is possible to deduce that there is a need to carry out more research projects aimed towards efficient design of products, including natural ingredients in their formulation (bioprospection). The application of innovative techniques of bioprospection can lead to the finding of new biological species that can be used as the primary source to obtain new products.

Oils and fats as raw materials has a great importance for several industries such as food, animal food, toiletries and pharmaceutical industry. Nonetheless only oils derived from African palm, soybean, some oilseed, and animal fats have been considered economically important. Some endemic palms are potential species for oil extraction, but logistical difficulties of amazon region and strict regulations for Colombia´s biodiversity use have caused that these species do not have an economical role in oils and fats chain. Hence oils of endemic palms are under â?? used, and factors such as their metabolic profile, nutritional potential and phytotherapeutic potential are ignored.

Here, we propose a rational methodology of bioprospection over some fruits from reported species of the Arecaceae family, using a multiscale design as a strategy to achieve a systematic design of stable emulsions, mainly for the cosmetic industry. The species Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua, and Mauritia flexuosa are abundant in Colombia's amazon region, and have a significant amount of ethereal extract; therefore, it is possible to take advantage on this characteristic considering to exploit them with a sustainable approach. For this, an expeller press process has been used. It allows to find 8% - 30% w/w yields depending on the specie, thus, comparing the values of extraction with petroleum ether, it is possible to conclude that pressing process allows an oil recovery of 67 â?? 77% w/w. Each oil was evaluated by quantifying the quality indices, lipid and triglycerides profile analysis. It was found that the content of unsaturated fatty acids is 74% - 83% for the three species being triolein the compound of higher relative concentration.

Since many finished cosmetic products are made from colloidal mixtures, in order to do a complete biosprospection research, we focused on finding a successful strategy for emulsion design. The use of emulsions in cosmetic products formulation allows to give specific characteristics to final product through mechanisms as encapsulation of active compounds, modification of rheological or optical properties or adjustment of organoleptic attributes. Therefore, emulsions with each one of the extracted oils are made using a biosurfactant as emulsifyin agent. Biosurfactants are a structurally quite diverse group of compounds synthesized by microorganisms, that can be be located at the interface between two liquid substances of different polarity, this feature gives the molecule abilities as act surfactant reducing surface tension, modifying the rheological behavior and making possible micellar organization (Nitschke & Costa, 2007; Ranasalva et al, 2014). The used biosurfactant was the protein membrane A of Escherichia coli (OmpA) which shows high homology with emulsifier protein (AlnA) from Acinetobacter radioresistens (Torens et al, 2002). OmpA´s amphiphilic structure is due its hydrophobic β-barrel domain and hydrophilic periplasmic domain. Thus, OmpA displays a significant role as a potential biosurfactant since it increases the stability of dodecane â?? water emulsions (Aguilera et al., 2014).

Finally, emulsions of different oils were made using 15 â?? 18% w/w of oil and 0,001 â?? 0,05% w/w of biosurfactant. To determine the stability of the emulsion, the microscopic and macroscopic scales have been evaluated (Pradilla, Vargas, & Alvarez, 2015). Firstly, using methods of light backscattering in order to obtain the variation of the droplet size over time. Subsequently, rheology properties were specified to decide the best application of the emulsion being studied. It was found that emulsions of each oil have their own rheological behavior and destabilization pattern.

In conclusion, the use of biosurfactants and non â?? timber natural forest products as raw matherials in cosmetic products can be an effective strategy for sustainable use of Colombian biodiversity. For this, it necessary to understand that the emulsion formulation is a critical step of product design because it has a direct impact in product properties and quality.

References

Aguilera Segura, S.; Macías, A. P., Carrero Pinto, D., Vargas, W. L., Vives-Florez, M. J., Castro Barrera, H.E., Álvarez, O.A. and Gonzalez Barrios, A. F. (2014). Escherichia coliâ??s OmpA as Biosurfactant for Cosmetic Industry: Stability Analysis and Experimental Validation Based on Molecular Simulations. In L. F. Castillo, M. Cristancho, G. Isaza, A. Pinzón, & J. M. C. Rodríguez (Eds.), Advances in Computational Biology SE - 38 (Vol. 232, pp. 265â??271). Springer International Publishing.

Dirección Nacional de Planeación. (2010). Cadena produtiva de oleaginosas, aceites y grasas. Retrieved from https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Desarrollo Empresarial/Oleaginosas.pdf [02/02/16]

Dirección Nacional de Planeación. Departamento Nacional de Planeación. Consejo Nacional de Política Económica y Social. Documento CONPES 3697. Política para el Desarrollo Comercial de la Biotecnología a partir del uso sostenible de la biodiversidad (2011). Bogotá D.C. Colombia.

Nitschke, M., & Costa, S. 2007. Biosurfactants in food industry. Food Science & Technology 18: 252-259.

Ranasalva, N.; Sunil, R. & Poovarasaan, G. 2014. Importance of biosurfactant in food industry. IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, 7 (5): 6 â?? 9.

Pradilla, D., Vargas, W., & Alvarez, O. (2015). The application of a multi-scale approach to the manufacture of concentrated and highly concentrated emulsions. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 95, 162â??172.

Torens, A.; Orr, E.; Paitan, Y.; Ron, E.Z. and Rosenberg, E. (2002). The Active Component of Bioemulsifier Alasan from Acinetobacter radioresistens KA53 Is an OmpA â?? like Protein. Journal of Bacteriology. 184 (1): 165 â?? 170.