Development of emulsions stabilized by vegetable proteins to obtain a clean label product

Mestrado em Engenharia Alimentar / Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de Lisboa

Traditionally, food emulsions such as mayonnaise are stabilized by egg proteins, namely lipoproteins. However, to respond to the current plant-based trend, there has been an effort to identify vegetable protein sources that fulfill the desired functionalities, without compromising the sensory properties. These proteins present some additional advantages such as the absence of cholesterol and a lower environmental impact than animal protein sources. This work aimed to develop a vegan and clean label mayonnaise, by replacing egg yolk with vegetable protein, obtaining a product aligned with current food trends. Four studies were conducted to achieve the proposed objective: A preliminary study was carried out to optimize the mayonnaise production at laboratory scale (Study 0). In Study I: emulsions with 1.5% (w/w) aquafaba powdered, pea, lupin and faba bean protein were prepared and compared to the standard (commercial mayonnaise). Color, texture (TPA) and rheology (SAOS) measurements indicated that emulsions with lupin and faba bean protein had significant differences (p<0.05) from the standard. Thus, these two proteins were tested in a mixed system using different proportions, with a total protein content of 1.5% (w/w) (Study II). This study evidenced that it is possible to develop a vegan mayonnaise with a rheology and texture behavior similar to the standard (p > 0.05). Besides, lupin protein showed a significant impact on mayonnaise structure and consistency. Backscattering and droplet size distribution measurements indicated that, except for faba bean, the emulsions of these two studies are stable. Study III compared emulsions stabilized with two different liquid aquafaba (29% (w/w). Compared to the standard, these two aquafabas showed some differences (p<0.05) in rheological and texture behavior, as well as in color (ΔE*>5). A sensory analysis was conducted to the most promising samples and emulsions with liquid aquafaba (LAXE) and 50%Lupin+50%Fababean (1.5% (w/w) protein) had the highest acceptability

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