Rheology and stability of acidified food emulsions treated with high pressure.

The stability and rheology of acidified model oil-in-water emulsions (pH 3.6 +/- 0.1) were evaluated before and after high-pressure treatments. Varying concentrations of canola oil (0-50% w/w), whey protein isolate, polysorbate 60, soy lecithin (0.1-1.5% w/w each), and xanthan (0.0-0.2% w/w) were chosen. Exposure to high pressures (up to 800 MPa for 5 min at 30 degrees C) did not significantly affect the equivalent surface mean diameter D[3,2], flow behavior, and viscoelasticity of the whey protein isolate and polysorbate 60-stabilized emulsions. Pressure treatments had negligible effects on emulsion stability in these systems, except when xanthan (0.2% w/w) was present in which pressure improved the stability of polysorbate 60-stabilized emulsions. Soy lecithin-stabilized emulsions had larger mean particles sizes and lower emulsion volume indices than the others, indicating potential instability, and application of pressure further destabilized these emulsions.