Zusammenfassung
Mentha spicata L. disappears in winter. The lack of fresh mint during the cold season can be a limiting factor for the preparation of mint tea. A fresh taste source that can be kept during winter is mint essential oil. As the oil is not soluble in water, a food-approved, water-soluble essential oil microemulsion was studied, investigating different surfactants, in particular Tween (R) 60. The ...
Zusammenfassung
Mentha spicata L. disappears in winter. The lack of fresh mint during the cold season can be a limiting factor for the preparation of mint tea. A fresh taste source that can be kept during winter is mint essential oil. As the oil is not soluble in water, a food-approved, water-soluble essential oil microemulsion was studied, investigating different surfactants, in particular Tween (R) 60. The challenge was to dissolve an extremely hydrophobic essential oil in a homogeneous, stable, transparent, and spontaneously forming solution of exclusively edible additives without adulterating the original fresh taste of the mint. Making use of the microemulsions' water and oil pseudo-phases, hydrophilic sweeteners and hydrophobic dyes could be incorporated to imitate mint leaf infusions aromatically and visually. The resulting formulation was a concentrate, consisting of similar to 90% green components, which could be diluted with water or tea to obtain a beverage with a pleasant minty taste.
Altmetric