2.3. Emulsion’s Formation

The O/W emulsions, using LMP as the surfactant, was prepared as described by Velderrain-Rodríguez, Salvia-Trujillo, González-Aguilar, and Martín-Belloso [1], with minor modifications. The O/W emulsions were formulated with avocado oil (10% w/w), 10 mM citric acid buffer (88.5% w/w), and LMP (1% w/w). In those emulsions containing AP or AS extracts, the extracts were directly blended with the coarse emulsion without prior solubilization. For this, 0.5% (w/w) of AP or AS extracts were added to the former mixture of components and homogenized at room temperature (20–25 °C) using an Ultra-Turrax T25 (IKA-Werke, Staufen, Germany) at 15,000 rpm for 3 min. Emulsions were obtained after passing coarse emulsions three times through a microfluidizer (model M110-P, Microfluidics, Newton, MA) working at 7000 psi. The microfluidizer was also coupled to a cooling water bath to prevent an increase in temperature and maintain it between 20–25 °C. Emulsions without extracts were also homogenized following the same protocol and subsequently referred to as “blank emulsions”. Moreover, oil/water dispersions containing or not the AP and AS extracts, but without pectin, were also prepared following the exact same protocol for comparison purposes of the emulsion’s digestibility. These will be subsequently referred to as “blank dispersions”, “dispersions with AP” or “dispersions with AS extracts”. As the dispersions did not contain pectin or any other surfactant, these were highly unstable and prepared to be used immediately.