Abstract:

Multiple (water-in-oil-in water) emulsions were prepd. by homogenizing 30 parts 1% NaCl with 70 parts of light mineral oil contg. varying amts. of Brij 92 emulsifier and then adding 20 parts of this primary emulsion to 80 parts of 5% glucose contg. varying amts. of mixts. of Span 20 [1338-39-2] and Tween 80 [9005-65-6] to provide hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) values of 9-15. At Tween-Span emulsifier mixt. concns. of 0.7-1.5% the yield of multiple emulsion was not affected by HLB value; droplet size detd. the yield. At emulsifier concns. \textgreater1.5% the yield decreased with increasing concn. at any HLB, related to a continuous decrease in multiple emulsion droplet size. Yields and emulsion stability were max. with an HLB value of 11 at emulsifier concns. \textgreater1.5%; at emulsifier mixt. concns. of 0.7-3% stability increased with increasing HLB value. Multiple emulsions are promising pharmaceutical forms. [on SciFinder(R)]