Applications of Whey Powder in Sunflower Oil-emulsions Stability

CRISTIÁN HUCK IRIART; ROBERTO J. CANDAL; MARIA LIDIA HERRERA

Long Beach

Congreso; 103RD AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo; 2012

Milk whey is a by-product from the cheese industry, generated in great amounts. During cheese manufacturing soluble whey proteins (primarily lactalbumins and lactoglobulins), lactose and minerals are drawn off in the whey. This by-product is generally processed by ultrafiltration and spray drying giving an interesting ingredient for the food industry. Dry whey has good functional properties such as emulsifying, water/fat holding, foaming, thickening or gelling capacity. The aim of this work was to study the stability of emulsions formulated with sunflower oil and dry whey as emulsifier. The systems were studied by Turbiscan, light scattering and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Aqueous phase may contain a 20 wt% sucrose solution or 0.3 wt% xanthan gum. Whey powder had two different protein contents 35 and 75 wt%. The 75 wt% powder had smaller droplet sizes for the same total solids. Droplet sizes did not change significantly by addition of sucrose or xanthan gum. Emulsions destabilized mainly by creaming with exception of the ones that contain 14 wt% whey proteins. Addition of both sucrose and xanthan gum increased stability. Confocal images were in agreement with the destabilization kinetics evaluated by turbiscan. Stable emulsions showed well formed droplets evenly distributed.