Food grade W/O microemulsions were developed and characterized to be used in blends with sunflower oil as replacers of palm kernel oil in whipped cream alternatives. Creams for whipping are oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing significant proportions of partially hydrogenated solid fat. With the addition of sunflower oil and W/O microemulsions up to 6.8% w/w in the final confectionary product we achieved the decrease of saturated fats and also the decrease of the energy required for the formulation. More specifically, by replacing 20% w/w of the oil phase by the proposed edible W/O microemulsions, the homogenization time was reduced from 7 to 5min under the same experimental conditions. In addition solid fat partial replacement permitted the modification of structural and textural characteristics. Droplet size and size distribution measurements were performed using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The existence of rather polydisperse oil droplets with diameters of approximately 1μm upon palm kernel oil partial replacement was detected. Structural characterization of the proposed alternative systems with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed the existence of air bubbles of diameter 6–94μm stabilized by globular oil droplets having diameters ranging from 4.2 to 5.9μm adhered to their surface. Firmness and consistency of the proposed alternative formulations were evaluated using a Stevens-texture analyzer. As a result emulsions after whipping gave products with lower density (362±9g/mL) but higher consistency (208±7g) as compared to the standard whipped cream preparation (150±5g).

In this study, oil-in-water emulsions made of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), mucilage from Dioscorea opposita (DOM), and food-grade polysaccharides (guar gum [GG], xanthan gum [XG] and pectin [Pec]) were prepared using high-pressure homogenisation. The droplet size distributions, microstructure, turbidity, interfacial tension, creaming index, and stability of emulsions were investigated and compared with those of DOM, GG, XG and Pec. The results showed that 0.4 wt% food-grade polysaccharides (GG, XG, and Pec) with 2 wt% DOM contributed more to the stability of the emulsion during storage. In particular, low concentrations of pectin and DOM emulsions presented smaller droplet size distribution, in the range of 86.34–111.30 nm. Hence, DOM has synergistic effects with food-grade polysaccharides, which could improve the stability of emulsions, suggesting that mucilage from Dioscorea opposita has good potential for use as a natural emulsifier.