Single-Conidium Encapsulation in Oil-in-Water Pickering Emulsions at High Encapsulation Yield

This study presents an individual encapsulation of fungal conidia in an oil in water Pickering emulsion at relatively single conidium encapsulation yield reaching to 44%. The single conidium encapsulation yield was characterized via analysis of confocal microscopy micrographs. Mineral oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by amine-functionalized titania dioxide (TiO2-NH2 or titania-NH2) particles were prepared. The structure and the stability of the emulsions were investigated at different compositions by confocal microscopy and LUMiSizer® respectively. The most stable emulsions with a droplet size suitable for single-conidium encapsulation were further studied for their individual encapsulation capabilities. The yields of individual encapsulation in the emulsions; i.e., the number of conidia that were individually encapsulated out of the total number of conidia, were characterized by confocal microscopy based assay. This rapid, easy to use approach to single-conidium encapsulation, which generates a significantly high yield with eco-friendly titania-based emulsions, only requires commonly used emulsification and agitation methods.