The development of vegetarian omega-3 oil in water nanoemulsions suitable for integration into functional food products

•Vegetarian omega-3 oil nanoemulsions were created using ultrasound with flaxseed and algae oils.•Stable oil in water nanoemulsions systems with up to 50 vol % oil load was created.•Ultrasound technology was used to create 50 vol % high DHA algae oil nanoemulsions, which has not been previously achieved.•A 50% system should be less detrimental to food matrixes as lower volumes can be added to reach optimum enrichment levels.•This could be applied to create DHA enriched foods with improved bioavailability and suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Global trends show that habitual omega-3 intakes are short of recommended guidelines, particularly among vegetarians and vegans. The potential health implications of low long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCω3PUFA) intakes coupled with concerns about sustainability of fish stocks call for innovative approaches to provide food based solutions to this problem. Nanoemulsions are systems with extremely small droplet sizes that could provide a solution while improving the bioavailability of LCω3PUFA. Oil in water nanoemulsion systems were successfully created using ultrasound with oil loads of up to 50% (w/w) using vegetarian LCω3PUFA oils (flaxseed and algae). Nanoemulsions of 50% (w/w) with mean droplet size measurements of 192 (flaxseed) and 182 nm (algae) using combinations of the emulsifiers Tween 40 and lecithin were prepared. This technique could be applied to create vegetarian LCω3PUFA nanoemulsions suitable for integration into enriched functional food products with the potential to increase LCω3PUFA intake and bioavailability.