Hello,
I am trying to dissolve preen gland secretion of birds in aqueous solution containing bacteria to test the antimicrobial activity of the secretion. The preen gland secretion is likely to consists of a mixture of waxes, (fatty) alcohols, fatty acids and triacylglycerides.
Instead of preen gland secretion, for the following experiements I used maize germ oil, because I do not have large quantities of preen gland secretion.
I tried to dissolve the oil in DMSO, ethanol (+hexane), methanol (+hexane), glycerol, PEG400. After adding wate and vortexing for some minutes droplets formed and it did not dissolve.
I also tried Tween80 and arabic gum and vortexed for 1 hour. But there was no difference to when I vortexed pure maize germ oil with water: a suspension formed which started to divide into two phases after some hours. Sonication had the same effect.
What else can I try? Maybe I did something wrong? I am still new to this topic. The liquid should be stable in one phase for at least 18 hours. Maybe I could try lecithine but I had to order it?
Thanks!