Abstract: The poor water solubility of policosanol hinders it from being applied in clear and stable functional beverages. To solve this bottleneck problem, a microemulsion with high loading of policosanol was prepared in this study. The optimum emulsification conditions were obtained. The microemulsion area was determined by constructing a pseudo-ternary-phase diagram and the stability was evaluated. The microemulsion was used as a functional ingredient in beverage. The results indicated that the microemulsion, prepared with an emulsifier mixture with a hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) value of 10 at emulsifying temperatures of 70–75 ℃, was stable and transparent, in which the amount of each additive was within the limits of the national standards for food safety. The microemulsion was stable against centrifugation, alternating hot and cold cycles and dilution. It was stable and transparent for 65 days at room temperature. With the decrease of the Km value, the microemulsion area in the pseudo-ternary-phase diagram decreased. A stable and transparent functional beverage was prepared based on the policosanol-loading microemulsion. The microemulsification of policosanol effectively improved its poor water solubility and stability in beverage, which provides a valid way of preparing high quality, transparent and stable functional beverage containing policosanol and lays the foundation for the development of new products.

Key words: policosanol, microemulsion, pseudo-ternary phase diagram, functional beverage