Ultrasound-assisted edible emulsion coatings for postharvest preservation: Cavitation-guided interfacial remodeling, droplet-to-coating translation, and scalable sonoprocessing.
4 affiliations
- 1Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational College, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510520, China.
- 2School of Public Health, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, BSL-3 Laboratory (Guangdong), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510515, China.
- 3School of Public Health, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, BSL-3 Laboratory (Guangdong), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510515, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 4School of Public Health, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, BSL-3 Laboratory (Guangdong), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510515, China; South China Hospital, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province 518116, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Ultrasound-assisted emulsification is increasingly used to formulate food-grade emulsions and active edible coatings, yet preservation performance is still frequently inferred from droplet size, polydispersity, ζ-potential, and bulk stability. These descriptors do not establish whether an emulsion retains its designed function after spreading, drying, adhesion, and storage on a heterogeneous, metabolically active food surface. This review develops a cavitation-guided framework that connects delivered acoustic energy and reactor-dependent bubble dynamics with emulsifier remodeling, interfacial assembly, emulsion architecture, droplet-to-coating translation, and postharvest function. Direct experimental evidence is distinguished from mechanistic interpretation and testable design hypotheses. Quantitative comparisons of ultrasound, high-pressure homogenization, rotor-stator processing, and hybrid approaches are used to define formulation-specific processing windows rather than a universal optimum. Nanoemulsions, Pickering emulsions, multilayer emulsions, multiple emulsions, and emulgels are assessed according to surface coverage, interfacial robustness, barrier-release coupling, compartmentalization, and residence. Particular emphasis is placed on wetting, drying, droplet immobilization, adhesion, water and gas transport, active-compound flux, and coating failure. Finally, evidence gates are used to distinguish formulation readiness, coating readiness, produce validation, and industry readiness, with throughput, energy use, thermal control, hygienic operation, migration, sensory acceptance, and process reproducibility treated as non-substitutable constraints. This framework shifts ultrasound-assisted coating design from empirical droplet miniaturization toward quantitatively defined, reactor-aware, and commodity-specific sonoprocessing.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026ultrasoundassisted,
title = {{Ultrasound-assisted edible emulsion coatings for postharvest preservation: Cavitation-guided interfacial remodeling, droplet-to-coating translation, and scalable sonoprocessing.}},
author = {Zhao Yang and Ruyi Wang and Chun-Yan Shen and Jialiang Pan and Wenzhen Liao and Xingfen Yang and Qi He},
journal = {Ultrasonics sonochemistry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108095},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42837977},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ultrasound-assisted edible emulsion coatings for postharvest preservation: Cavitation-guided interfacial remodeling, droplet-to-coating translation, and scalable sonoprocessing.
AU - Zhao Yang
AU - Ruyi Wang
AU - Chun-Yan Shen
AU - Jialiang Pan
AU - Wenzhen Liao
AU - Xingfen Yang
AU - Qi He
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/04
JO - Ultrasonics sonochemistry
DO - 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2026.108095
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42837977
AB - Ultrasound-assisted emulsification is increasingly used to formulate food-grade emulsions and active edible coatings, yet preservation performance is still frequently inferred from droplet size, polydispersity, ζ-potential, and bulk stability. These descriptors do not establish whether an emulsion retains its designed function after spreading, drying, adhesion, and storage on a heterogeneous, metabolically active food surface. This review develops a cavitation-guided framework that connects delivered acoustic energy and reactor-dependent bubble dynamics with emulsifier remodeling, interfacial assembly, emulsion architecture, droplet-to-coating translation, and postharvest function. Direct experimental evidence is distinguished from mechanistic interpretation and testable design hypotheses. Quantitative comparisons of ultrasound, high-pressure homogenization, rotor-stator processing, and hybrid approaches are used to define formulation-specific processing windows rather than a universal optimum. Nanoemulsions, Pickering emulsions, multilayer emulsions, multiple emulsions, and emulgels are assessed according to surface coverage, interfacial robustness, barrier-release coupling, compartmentalization, and residence. Particular emphasis is placed on wetting, drying, droplet immobilization, adhesion, water and gas transport, active-compound flux, and coating failure. Finally, evidence gates are used to distinguish formulation readiness, coating readiness, produce validation, and industry readiness, with throughput, energy use, thermal control, hygienic operation, migration, sensory acceptance, and process reproducibility treated as non-substitutable constraints. This framework shifts ultrasound-assisted coating design from empirical droplet miniaturization toward quantitatively defined, reactor-aware, and commodity-specific sonoprocessing.
SN - 1350-4177
SN - 1873-2828
ER -