Process-induced water-soluble biopolymers from broccoli and tomato purées: Their molecular structure in relation to their emulsion stabilizing capacity

Water-soluble biopolymers from heat-treated and high pressure homogenized vegetable purées: investigating their emulsion forming and stabilizing capacities

The emulsion forming and stabilizing capacities of water-soluble biopolymers originating from the aqueous (serum) phase of heat-treated and high pressure homogenized purées were investigated. The serum biopolymers were characterized and then utilized as emulsifier/stabilizer in simple oil-in-water emulsions. The resulting emulsions were stored at 4 °C and monitored for 2 weeks. Results revealed that carrot and tomato sera contained higher amounts of pectin and lower protein compared to broccoli. The serum pectic biopolymers exhibited distinct molecular structures, depending on the vegetable origin. Given these natural biopolymer composition and characteristics, emulsions with small droplet sizes were observed at pH 3.5. However, emulsions at pH 6.0 showed large mean droplet sizes, except for the emulsion formulated with carrot serum. Regardless of the pH, emulsions containing carrot serum biopolymers exhibited high capacity to form fine emulsions that were stable during the 2-week storage period at low temperature. This study clearly shows the capacity of natural water-soluble biopolymers isolated from the serum phase of vegetable purées to form fine emulsion droplets and maintain its stability during storage, especially in the case of carrot serum biopolymers.

Tremella fuciform Polysaccharides: Extraction, Physicochemical, and Emulsion Properties at Different pHs

The chemical composition, macromolecular characteristics, and structure of four types of Tremella fuciform polysaccharides (TPS) were analyzed, including one TPS that was extracted in the laboratory (L-TPS) and three commercial TPS. The effects of pH on the properties of TPS emulsions were investigated by analyzing their zeta potential, particle size, apparent viscosity, and stability. The results showed that L-TPS presented a higher percentage content of protein (2.33%) than commercial TPS (0.73–0.87%), and a lower molecular mass (17.54 × 106 g/mol). Thus, L-TPS exhibited the best emulsifying activity but gave poor emulsion stability. The droplet sizes and apparent viscosity of commercial TPS-stabilized emulsions were larger or higher in acidic environments. At pH 2, the apparent viscosity was the lowest for L-TPS. Commercial TPS emulsions were most stable at pH 6, while the L-TPS-stabilized emulsion was most stable at pH 2. The obtained results revealed that the emulsifying properties of TPS varied and the effects of pH on emulsion characteristics differed, as determined from the molecular mass, macromolecular characteristics, and structure. This research is useful for expanding the application of TPS as a novel food ingredient in emulsions.

Optimization of Pea Protein Isolate-Stabilized Oil-in-Water Ultra-Nanoemulsions by Response Surface Methodology and the Effect of Electrolytes on Optimized Nanoemulsions

Nanoemulsions are optically transparent and offer good stability, bioavailability, and control over the targeted delivery and release of lipophilic active components. In this study, pea protein isolate (PPI)-stabilized O/W nanoemulsions were evaluated using response surface methodology to obtain optimized ultra-nanoemulsions of Sauter mean diameter (D3,2) < 100 nm using a high-pressure homogenizer (HPH). Furthermore, the effect of food matrix electrolytes, i.e., the pH and ionic strength, on the emulsion (prepared at optimized conditions) was investigated. The results revealed that the droplet size distribution of emulsions was mainly influenced by the PPI concentration and the interaction of oil concentration and HPH pressure. Moreover, a non-significant increase in droplet size was observed when the nanoemulsions (having an initial D3,2 < 100 nm) were stored at 4 °C for 7 days. Based on the current experimental design, nanoemulsions with a droplet size < 100 nm can effectively be prepared with a high PPI concentration (6.35%), with less oil (1.95%), and at high HPH pressure (46.82 MPa). Such emulsions were capable of maintaining a droplet size below 100 nm even at ionic conditions of up to 400 mM NaCl and at acidic pH.

Structural and emulsion stabilizing properties of pectin rich extracts obtained from different botanical sources

The presented research studied the emulsifying and emulsion stabilizing capacity of pectin samples isolated from different plant origin: apple, carrot, onion and tomato. The acid extracted pectin samples showed distinct structural properties. Specifically, apple pectin showed a high degree of methylesterification (78.41 ± 0.83%), carrot pectin had the lowest concentration of other co-eluted cell wall polymers, onion pectin displayed a bimodal molar mass distribution suggesting two polymer fractions with different molar mass and tomato pectin was characterized by a high protein content (16.48 ± 0.05%). The evaluation of the emulsifying and emulsion stabilizing potential of the pectin samples included investigating their ability to lower the interfacial tension next to a storage stability study of pectin stabilized o/w emulsions. Creaming behavior as well as the evolution of the oil droplet size were thoroughly examined during storage using multiple analytical techniques. Overall, smaller oil droplet sizes were obtained at pH 2.5 compared to pH 6.0 indicating better emulsifying capacity at lower pH. The lowest emulsion stability was observed in emulsions formulated with tomato pectin in which weak flocculation and relatively fast creaming affected emulsion stability. Onion pectin clearly showed the most promising emulsifying and emulsion stabilizing potential. At both pH conditions, emulsions stabilized by the onion pectin sample displayed highly stable oil droplet sizes during the whole storage period. The presence of the two polymer fractions in this sample can play an important role in the observed stability. In future work, it could be evaluated if both fractions contribute to emulsion stability in a synergistic way. In conclusion, this work showed that pectin samples extracted from different plant origin display diverse structural properties resulting in varying emulsifying and emulsion stabilizing potential. Polymer molar mass potentially plays a major role in the structure-function relation.