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B. SEARS, Sears Laboratories, 21 Tioga Way, Marblehead, MA 01945

One of the major problems facing the use of liposomes in food technology is their stability and ability to sequester water-insoluble ingredients such as flavors and micronutrients. Above certain levels of water-insoluble ingredients, liposomal structure becomes unstable. To circumvent this requires new technologies to impart greater stability to liposomal structures and also allow the incorporation of higher levels of water-insoluble ingredients within the bilayer matrix for maximum protection.

Appropriate synthetic modification of the polar head of phophatidylethanolamine (PE) with polymers of polyethylene oxide (PEG) can provide a potential solution to this problem. These PE-PEG lipids provide a spatial barrier to reduce aggregation of the liposomes and impart a new packing order within the bilayer that can accommodate higher levels of water-insoluble ingredients, especially those prone to oxidation

This technology was originally designed for the delivery of cancer drugs and is FDA approved for intravenous injection. The specific application of this technology to food products will be discussed.