Ribeiro, AndreiaGonçalves, Raquel F.S.Pinheiro, Ana C.Manrique, Yaidelin A.Barreiro, M.F.Lopes, José Carlos B.Dias, Madalena M.2021-11-172021-11-172022Ribeiro, Andreia; Gonçalves, Raquel F.S.; Pinheiro, Ana C.; Manrique, Yaidelin A.; Barreiro, M.F.; Lopes, José Carlos B.; Dias, Madalena M. (2022). In vitro digestion and bioaccessibility studies of vitamin E-loaded nanohydroxyapatite Pickering emulsions and derived fortified foods. LWT - Food Science and Technology. ISSN 0023-6438. 154, p. 1-90023-6438http://hdl.handle.net/10198/24214Vitamin E is a lipophilic vitamin playing an essential role in human health. Due to oxidative instability, it presents fast degradation and bioactivity loss. In this study, vitamin E-loaded Pickering emulsions (PEs) stabilized by nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) were produced using a static mixer (NETmix), a technique enabling continuous production and droplet size tailoring. Thus, oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing vitamin E at a content of 1 mg/mL were produced with different droplet sizes (7.53, 11.56 and 17.72 μm) using an O/W ratio of 20/80 (v/v). Their stability during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and vitamin E bioaccessibility were investigated. It was observed that n-HAp particles disrupt in the stomach and subsequently aggregate as random calcium phosphates in the small intestine, leading to low vitamin E bioaccessibility due to oil entrapment. The emulsion showing the highest vitamin E bioaccessibility (3.29 ± 0.57%, sample with the larger average droplet size) was used to produce fortified gelatine and milk, resulting in an increased bioaccessibility (10.87 ± 1.04% and 18.07 ± 2.90%, respectively). This fact was associated with the presence of macronutrients and the lower n- HAp content. Overall, n-HAp PEs offer advantages for vitamin E encapsulation directed to fortified foods development, a process able to be extended to other lipophilic vitamins.engNETmixPickering emulsionsLipophilic vitaminIn vitro digestionjournal article10.1016/j.lwt.2021.112706