Physical and Oxidative Stabilities of O/W Emulsions Formed with Rice Dreg Protein Hydrolysate: Effect of Xanthan Gum Rheology

The shortening of shelf-life of food emulsions is frequently due to poor creaming and lipid oxidation stability. The lipid oxidation of O/W emulsions can be inhibited by rice dreg protein hydrolysate (RDPH); however, emulsions were stabilized by Tween-20. Polysaccharides can control the rheology and network structure of the aqueous continuous phase by increasing viscosity and yield stress, hence retarding phase separation and gravity-induced creaming, especially for xanthan gum. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether emulsions formed with 2 wt% RDPH and stabilized by xanthan gum (0–0.5 wt%) could produce 20 % (v/v) soybean oil-in-water emulsions that had good physical and oxidative stability. The degree of flocculation of droplets as a function of xanthan gum concentration was assessed by the microstructure, rheology, and the creaming index of emulsions. Addition of xanthan gum prior to homogenization had no significant effect on the mean droplet diameter in all emulsions studied. Increase in xanthan gum concentration led to the increase in creaming stability of emulsions, due to an increase in viscosity of the continuous phase and/or the formation of a droplet network with a yield stress, as well as the enhanced steric and electrostatic repulsion between the droplets. Lipid oxidation of the emulsions was significantly inhibited at xanthan gum concentrations of 0.12 wt% or above with RDPH, which could due to the fact that xanthan gum increases the viscosity of the aqueous phase and hindered the diffusion of oxidants to the oil droplet surface area, synergistic effect between RDPH and xanthan gum to suppress oil peroxidation, and metal ion chelation capability of xanthan gum. Thus, stable protein hydrolyzates-type emulsions could be obtained with increasing concentration of xanthan gum.