Comparative study of emulsifying properties in acidic condition of soluble polysaccharides fractions obtained from soy hull and defatted soy flour

Abstract

The present study compares the emulsifying properties in acidic conditions of hull soluble polysaccharides (HSPS), soybean soluble polysaccharides (SSPS) and its mixtures. These fractions were obtained from byproducts of soybean processing industry (soy hull and residual fiber after isolation of soy cotyledon protein, respectively). Although SSPS is already characterized, HSPS is a novel fraction which has not been studied in deep and it is still unexplored as emulsifier. Dispersions of both fraction and a mixture 50:50 of them at pH 3.0 were used as aqueous phase (1.0–3.0 % w/w) in coarse and fine oil-in-water emulsions (oil mass fraction = 0.3). Its stability was evaluated through the evolution of backscattering profiles (%BS), particle size distribution and mean particle diameters. The rheology of the emulsions was also analyzed. Both fractions provided stability to creaming when increasing the polysaccharide concentration and energy of homogenization. While coarse emulsions were unstable systems, fine emulsions were stable enough and allowed a deeper analysis of the destabilizing processes. A bridging flocculation phenomenon in the presence of HSPS and HSPS/SSPS mixtures is suggested, which influences the creaming and rheological behavior. Also, coalescence index increases according HSPS and HSPS/SSPS concentrations, but particle sizes reached were smaller than in SSPS emulsions. Fine emulsions with 3 % of HSPS/SSPS mixtures yielded the best results on the overall stability at 28 days. So, functional properties of the fractions may improve by the formulation of emulsions consisting in mixtures of them. These results are of interest to the manufacturing of acidic foods, taking advantage of obtaining byproducts from residual materials.