Role of antioxidants on physicochemical properties and in vitro bioaccessibility of β-carotene loaded nanoemulsion under thermal and cold plasma discharge accelerated tests.

The effects of water soluble antioxidant (ascorbic acid and EDTA), fat soluble antioxidant (α-tocopherol) and amphiphilic antioxidant (ascorbyl palmitate; AP) on the chemical physics and bioaccessibility of β-carotene loaded nanoemulsions (CNE) were investigated. During accelerated storage at 45 °C for 15 days, AP showed the highest protective actions against particle size growth, color fading, lipid oxidation, and β-carotene degradation in CNE (p < 0.05). CNE with AP was then subjected to treat with cold plasma (CP) induced reactive species system under various powers and contact times compared to control. AP was able to protect physical and oxidative stabilities of CNE as well as β-carotene integrity. The highest in vitro lipid digestibility, bioaccessibility and β-carotene stability were found in CNE with AP (p < 0.05). However, those properties were lowered after CP exposure. The results indicated that AP was a promising antioxidant in improving physical stability, oxidative stability, β-carotene retention, and β-carotene bioaccessibility of CNE.