Ultrasound emulsification energy strategies impact the encapsulation efficiency of essential oils in colloidal systems

•Ultrasound-assisted encapsulation of essential oils was evaluated in this study.•The application mode of high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) impacts the phytochemicals retention.•Essential oils had their encapsulation efficiency in colloidal systems affected by HIUS processes.•Applying the same HIUS specific energy in different ways results in different oil retention capacities.•The use of different HIUS processes at 300 J g−1 did not affect the kinetic stability of emulsions. In the last years, high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) technology has shown consistent growth as a smart alternative for developing processes and innovative products, such as emulsified systems. However, there is still a lack of standard process protocols for designing HIUS-assisted colloidal systems, such as essential oil (EO)-based emulsions. In this work, we reported the impact of different homogenization strategies using ultrasound energy on the production of oil-in-water emulsions containing different EOs (clove, orange, and rosemary) and gum Arabic as an emulsifier. We evaluated the effect of applying a given HIUS specific energy (300 J g−1) on emulsion kinetic stability and encapsulation efficiency, using an acoustic power and process time binomial approach, analogously to conventional thermal pasteurization processes, in two ways: low power and long time (LPLT) and high power and short time (HPST). Emulsions presented kinetic stability after 72 h of storage, except for emulsions containing orange EO and high encapsulation efficiency (EE) values (81.5–100%, approximately). Furthermore, kinetic stability was associated with low droplet sizes (