Oil Body Emulsions and Stability Mechanisms in Plant Systems

Oil bodies are subcellular organelles evolved by plants to store energy in the form of triacylglycerols, enveloped by a specialised membrane of phospholipids and structural proteins. This architecture confers remarkable physical and chemical stability under stresses such as dehydration, mechanical shear and temperature fluctuations. Central to oil body integrity are oleosins—amphipathic proteins with a hydrophobic hairpin that penetrates the lipid core and hydrophilic terminal regions that interface with the aqueous phase. Together, membrane lipids and proteins confer steric and electrostatic barriers that prevent droplet coalescence and aggregation. Beyond their biological role in seed physiology and germination, isolated oil bodies and their components have attracted intense interest as naturally occurring emulsifiers and colloidal stabilisers. Understanding the interplay between membrane composition, interfacial rheology and environmental factors has underpinned advances in plant-based food formulations, sustainable delivery systems for bioactives and green routes to fine chemicals. Recent studies have elucidated molecular features of protein-lipid interactions, revealed particle-based stabilisation mechanisms akin to Pickering emulsions and demonstrated practical extraction protocols to tailor emulsion properties. Collectively, this field bridges plant physiology, colloid science and applied biotechnology, offering a blueprint for harnessing nature-assembled structures in diverse industrial applications.

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Oil Body Emulsions and Stability Mechanisms in Plant Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in oil body emulsions and stability mechanisms in plant systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Oleosome: Natural oil body organelle in plants storing triacylglycerols within a phospholipid–protein monolayer membrane.

Oleosin: Structural protein embedded in the oil body membrane with a central hydrophobic hairpin and hydrophilic termini, conferring surfactant-like properties.

Pickering stabilisation: Colloidal stabilisation mechanism in which particles adsorb irreversibly at an oil–water interface to prevent droplet coalescence.

Triacylglycerol: Ester of glycerol with three fatty acids forming the hydrophobic core of oil body droplets.

Phospholipid monolayer: Single layer of phospholipids surrounding the oil body core, providing interfacial rigidity and electrostatic repulsion.

References

1. Insights into the emulsification mechanism of the surfactant-like protein oleosin. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (2023).
2. Structure and functions of oleosomes (oil bodies). Advances in Colloid and Interface Science (2019).
3. The behaviour of sunflower oleosomes at the interfaces. Soft Matter (2019).
4. Controlled oleosome extraction to produce a plant-based mayonnaise-like emulsion using solely rapeseed seeds. LWT (2020).
5. Purification and Structural Characterization of the Central Hydrophobic Domain of Oleosin*. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2002).
6. Nature-Assembled Structures for Delivery of Bioactive Compounds and Their Potential in Functional Foods. Frontiers in Chemistry (2020).