Physicochemical properties and stability of the emulsion prepared with various emulsifiers for enteral nutrition preparations

The mean diameter of emulsion droplets prepared using three different emulsifiers (egg yolk lecithin alone, egg yolk lysolecithin alone, and a mixture of egg yolk lecithin and lysolecithin) was investigated. Considering the nasal administration of enteral nutrients or that through gastric/jejunal fistulae, the stability of each emulsion with artificial gastric fluid (pH 1.2) or intestinal fluid (pH 6.8) was investigated. When adding artificial intestinal fluid, all emulsions prepared with various emulsifiers (egg yolk lecithin, egg yolk lysolecithin, soybean lecithin, soybean lysolecithin, DK ester^® F-140, and Sunsoft^® A-141E) were stable. On the other hand, when adding artificial gastric fluid, emulsions prepared with egg yolk lysolecithin or Sunsoft^® A-141E were stable, but there was a reduction in the stability of emulsions prepared with the other emulsifiers, with an increase in the particle size. Based on these results, we prepared an emulsion using a natural component-derived emulsifier for enteral nutrients, egg yolk lysolecithin, and clarified the pH change-related stability of the emulsion.