AUTHOR=Kotliarevski Liliya , Mani Karthik Ananth , Feldbaum Reut Amar , Yaakov Noga , Belausov Eduard , Zelinger Einat , Ment Dana , Mechrez Guy 

TITLE=Single-Conidium Encapsulation in Oil-in-Water Pickering Emulsions at High Encapsulation Yield

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.726874

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.726874

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>This study presents an individual encapsulation of fungal conidia in an oil-in-water Pickering emulsion at a single-conidium encapsulation yield of 44%. The single-conidium encapsulation yield was characterized by analysis of confocal microscopy micrographs. Mineral oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by amine-functionalized titania dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>-NH<sub>2</sub> or titania-NH<sub>2</sub>) particles were prepared. The structure and the stability of the emulsions were investigated at different compositions by confocal microscopy and a LUMiSizer<sup>®</sup> respectively. The most stable emulsions with a droplet size suitable for single-conidium encapsulation were further studied for their individual encapsulation capabilities. The yields of individual encapsulation in the emulsions; i.e., the number of conidia that were individually encapsulated out of the total number of conidia, were characterized by confocal microscopy assay. This rapid, easy to use approach to single-conidium encapsulation, which generates a significantly high yield with eco-friendly titania-based emulsions, only requires commonly used emulsification and agitation methods.</p>