IMPORTANCE OF THE PHASE-BEHAVIOR OF PHOSPHOLIPIDS FOR EMULSION STABILITY

The relationship between the phase behaviour for different combinations of neutral and charged surface active lipids was investigated with regard to the dispersion and stabilization of emulsified systems. When the negatively charged lipids were combined with neutral phospholipids lamellar liquid crystalline phases were formed with large repeat‐distances depending on the incorporation of water between the lipid bilayers. Studies of phase equilibria in a water‐oil‐phospholipid system showed that the lamellar phase was present in that concentration area where the o/w emulsions investigated were produced. The investigation made clear that both the degree of dispersion and the emulsion stability could be brought to optimum values by the addition to neutral phospholipids of negatively charged lipids or by selecting commercial lecithins in which a certain amount of negatively charged phospholipids were present. Copyright © 1979 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim