Increasing the stability of vegetable oil solutions with the aid of monoglycerides and a cosurfactant

The conditions for an enhanced mutual miscibility of water and Canola oil, with the aid of one or two surface active components, were investigated at 25 C. First, the ability of short chain alcohols to increase the mutual solubility was charted. Such systems frequently are denoted detergentless microemulsions. Second, normal microemulsion systems were formed by using surface active monoglycerides of foodstuff grade. Third, the synergism was monitored when both the surfactant and the cosurfactant (the alcohols) were mixed either with water or oil. Finally, the combined effect was determined when all four components were mixed together into a microemulsion system. It is shown that the extension of the ternary solution phase is dependent primarily on the surfactant used. Some improvement of the mutual solubility of water and oil, however, also was produced by the alcohols. The solubilization capacity of water in the quaternary systems is easily understood when the solution phase is compared with the microemulsion phases of the ternary systems included. Although no dramatic composition dependency was found, an enhanced solubility of water was observed for the oil rich microemulsions of roughly equal weight fractions of the surfactant components. © 1985 AOCS Press.