Droplet Sizes in Emulsions
The droplet size distribution in emulsions of water in oil (e.g. margarine and butter) as well as of oil in water (dressings, low fat spreads) provides important information about the shelf life and palatability.
- the minispec Droplet-Size Analyzer
Products with multiple small water droplets are preferable as they exhibit longer shelf life (less susceptible to microbial growth).
The advantage of this minispec NMR technique, compared to conventional methods like laser light scattering or electric sensing are:
- direct use of the sample (no preparation step)
- No need for dilution
- non-invasive measurement
- non-subjective measurement
- automatic evaluation of droplet mean diameter, droplet distribution
The minispec mq series allows very small oil droplet sizes (down to 0.25 micrometers) to be measured. The NMR technique is equally applicable to both free and flocculated droplets; measurement of droplets in a cluster is normally a problem with conventional techniques which measure the cluster size instead of the individual droplet.
This minispec method has been validated and verified by numerous labs. It shows for regular samples very good correspondence with conventional, labor intensive methods.
