Pomegranate seed oil as a functional ingredient in beverages

Pomegranate seeds are by-products of pomegranate juice industry. Since the seeds contain valuable oil that has nutritional and medicinal properties, they can be useful for food applications (especially in juice and beverage industries) as a functional agent. In this study, the possibility of producing a stable pomegranate-seed-oil-in-water emulsion to be used as a base formula for a new functional beverage was investigated. The influence of gum Arabic (GA) concentration (10.0, 12.5, and 15.0%, w/w) with a constant oil phase content (6.0% w/w) on the turbidity loss rate, emulsion stability index, and droplet size distribution was investigated. Turbidity loss rate was inversely proportional to the GA concentration for all the formulations studied here. Compared to other emulsions, emulsion with 15.0% w/w GA did not show a discernible cream layer during 42 days of storage. Emulsion with 15.0% w/w GA indicated the smallest polydispersity index during this period. The results of this study showed that it was possible to produce a relatively stable pomegranate-seed-oil-in-water emulsion for use as a functional agent in beverages.