OWemulsiossa

OWemulsiossa is a term used in Estonian-language texts to denote an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. In such systems, droplets of oil are dispersed in a continuous aqueous phase, stabilized by emulsifiers or surfactants and often supplemented by stabilizers or preservatives for practical use.

Composition and structure: The dispersed phase consists of oil droplets that can range from submicron to a few micrometers, while water forms the continuous phase. Emulsifiers reduce interfacial tension and provide electrostatic or steric barriers to coalescence. The choice of stabilizers, emulsifier type, and the overall oil-to-water ratio influence viscosity, texture, and stability, as well as sensory properties in food or cosmetic applications.

Formation and preparation: Emulsification typically requires mechanical energy, using high-shear mixers, rotor-stator devices, high-pressure homogenizers, or ultrasonic methods. Temperature control, sequence of ingredient addition, and surfactant concentration affect droplet size distribution and long-term stability. Storage conditions and packaging can also influence stability.

Applications: Oil-in-water emulsions are common in the food industry (mayonnaise, dressings, beverages), cosmetics and personal care products (creams, lotions), and pharmaceutical formulations (topical gels, oral suspensions, drug delivery systems). They are also used in research as model systems for studying interfacial phenomena and for encapsulating hydrophobic compounds in aqueous environments.

Stability and testing: Stability challenges include creaming or sedimentation, coalescence, Ostwald ripening, phase inversion, and microbial growth in the aqueous phase. Characterization methods include droplet-size distribution analysis, optical or electron microscopy, rheology, and conductivity measurements. OWemulsiossa thus describes a broad class of dispersions with oil droplets dispersed in water, whose stability depends on formulation and processing conditions.