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To cite this article: Yukiko Yamamoto & Megumi Araki (1997) Effects of Lecithin Addition in Oil or
Water Phase on the Stability of Emulsions Made with Whey Proteins, Bioscience, Biotechnology,
and Biochemistry, 61:11, 1791-1795, DOI: 10.1271/bbb.61.1791
Effects of Lecithin Addition in Oil or Water Phase on the Stability of Emulsions Made
with Whey Proteins
Yukiko YAMAMOTO and Megumi ARAKI
Department of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Life Science, Osaka City University, Sugimoto 3-chome, Sumiyoshi-ku,
Osaka 558, Japan
Received January 29, 1997
The effects of lecithin addition in oil or water phase on the stability of oil-in-water emulsions made
with 0.1 wt°l<, whey protein and 10 wt% n-tetradecane at neutral and acidic pH were studied by monitoring
the gravitational creaming and phase separation. The effects of lecithin addition on the interfacial behavior
of p-Iactoglobulin were also studied to compare with the results of emulsion stability. At neutral pH, crude
phosphatidylcholine (PC) from egg yolk or soybean increased the stability of the emulsion made with protein
and lowered the interfacial tension of protein films more effectively than pure egg PC. A more remarkable
effect on both the emulsion stability and the interfacial tension was found when crude PC was added in the
oil phase rather than in the water phase. The purity of lecithins and the way to add them are suggested to
be very important to make a stable emulsion with protein. On acidic pH (4.5 or 3.0), the increased creaming
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or phase separation in a whey protein-stabilized emulsion, but the lowered interfacial tension of p-Iactoglobulin
films, were found upon the addition of pure or crude PC in oil or water phase. These results suggest that
in acidic pH, densely packed films may be formed on a planar oil-water interface, but not on adsorbed
layers around oil droplets in an emulsion.
Key words: emulsion stability; interfacial tension; whey protein; p-Iactoglobulin; lecithin
Whey protein isolates (WPI) are widely used as food emulsion. Interfacial tension, interfacial rheology, and
ingredients in bakery, dairy, and meat production because interfacial concentration have been studied to monitor the
of their good functional and nutritional properties. 1.2) interfacial behavior of proteins at air-water and oil-water
Among them, excellent surface and emulsifying properties interfaces. 16.20 -- 24) A monolayer technique has also been
are interesting and have been studied in detai1. 1 10) The often used for understanding the interaction of lecithin with
stability of emulsions made with protein is known to be proteins,25.26) with results suggesting that the amounts of
influenced by a number of factors such as the way to pre- adsorbed protein on the film at the oil-water interface are
pare, phase volume fraction, pH, temperature, ionic influenced by lecithin addition.
strength, and added surface-active emulsifiers. 2.6,11) As the As the pH affects the conformational changes of globular
lack of uniformity in composition of commercial WPI, the proteins, the pH of the aqueous phase is also important for
effect of WPI components is also an important factor in the stability of emulsions made with proteins. It is known
the stability of emulsions made with whey proteins. 2,4,S,10) that proteins tend to aggregate at the pH of their isoelectric
Lecithin is an important 'natural' small-molecule emul- point, and that the pH to make emulsions should be away
sifier available for widespread use in food processing ap- from the isoelectric point for the prevention of coalescence
plications. 12 . 13 ) Lecithin is composed of many different and creaming in protein-stabilized emulsions. 8,9)
phospholipids, and the two most abundant phospholipid A variety of tests for the stability of oil-in-water emulsion
species are phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidyl- have been studied with no single satisfactory method. These
ethanolamine (PE). The most important commercial source include turbidimetric technique,2 7) conductivity measure-
of lecithin for food production is soybean. Lecithins ment,28,29) measurement of the amount of oil or cream
purified from egg yolk also have been used widely for separated during a certain period of time with or without
parenteral emulsions for drag delivery and intravenous centrifugation, 6. 7) or the average particle size or particle
nutrition. 12IS ) Lecithin has been used both to stabilize fine size distribution. 6 10,30,31) Recently, Fligner et al. sug-
emulsions as the sole stabilizer and to make stable emulsions gested that the extent of gravitational and centrifugal
with another emulsifier, proteins. The effects of lecithin on creaming, and not average particle size, is an adequate
the stability of protein-stabilized emulsions are reported predictor of short-term emulsion stability with emulsions
with positive or negative effects depending on the amount made with milk proteins. 6 )
and the kind of added lecithin. 16 .1 7) The displacement of In this experiment, we studied the effects of lecithin
lecithin to milk proteins from oil~water interface has also addition in oil or water phase on the stability of emulsions
been studied with the results not as effective as other made with whey proteins at neutral or acidic pH. P-
(water-soluble) surfactants.16.18.19) Lactoglobulin, the most abundant whey protein, is mainly
In most emulsions with protein, the primary stabilization used for the protein source. Stability was evaluated by
is provided by the protein-containing adsorbed layers at the measuring the extent of gravitational phase separation. The
oil-water interface. Thus, understanding of interfacial interfacial behavior of fJ-lactoglobulin with or without
properties of protein film is essential to make a stable lecithin in oil or water phase was also studied by measuring
Table Effects of Lecithin Addition on the Stability of Emulsion Prepared with p-Lactoglobulin at Neutral or Acidic pH
Oil-in-water emulsion was prepared with 10wt% n-tetradecane and 0.1 wt% p-Iactoglobulin dissolved in 0.02M bis-tris buffer (pH 7.0) or acetate
buffer (pH 4.5 or 3.0). Commercial corn oil was also used as an oil phase (results in parenthesis). Lecithin was added in buffer solution or oil before
emulsification at a concentration of 1.0 wt %. The stability of emulsions was measured by monitoring visually the changes in the length of each distinct
layers, and expressed as volume percentages of cream or oil layer (top) and water layer (bottom) after incubation for 24 h.
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For pure egg yolk lecithin, Fang and Dalgleish showed the 60
similar mean droplet size of casein-stabilized emulsions with
e
lecithin in the oil or water phase. 16 ) Our results in the Table
clearly show that the method to add a lecithin as an
z§ 50
emulsifier is 'a very important factor, and crude PC should c 40
.900 .... - .............
be dissolved in the oil phase to make a more stable emulsion 30
C
with whey proteins. II)
+-'
60 60
S
50
S 50
Z Z
g g
t: 40 t: 40
.9 .9
rtl rtl
t: 30 t: 30
.....OJ .....OJ
~(.) 20 ]
(.)
20
~
I-< ~OJ
OJ
..... 10 ..... 10
..s 111,,1
..s
0 ""11,,1
0
-00 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 5 10 15 20 25
Log10C (wt%) Time (h)
Fig. 3. Effects of the Concentration of Added Crude Soybean PC on the Fig. 5. Effects of Lecithin Addition in Oil or Water Phase on the
Interfacial Tension between n- Tetradecane and [3- Lactoglobulin Solution. Interfacial Tension between n-Tetradecane and f1-Lactoglobulin Solution
Interfacial tension at the interj~lce of n-tetradecane and 1O- 4 wtO;;) fI-Iactoglobulin at Acidic pH.
solutIOn after 24 h was expressed as a functIon of the concentration of crude soybean Interracial tensIOn at the interface of n-tetradecane and 10-4 wt% f3-lactoglobulin
PC added in the oil or water phase; 0. crude soybean PC (in water phase); . , solution in 0.002M acetate buffer (pH 4.5) with or without added 1O- 3 wt% crude
[i-lactoglobulin + crude soybean PC (in water phase); O. crude soybean PC (in oil soybean PC in oil or water phase was expressed as time-dependent changes. Symbols
phase); II, {1-1actoglohulin tcrude soybean PC (in oil phase). represent the same as in Fig. 2.
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60
S isoelectric point have already been reported. 20 )
Z 50 The interfacial tension of [3-lactoglobulin at pH 4.5 was
g
-------------~
lowered to a very low value by the lecithin addition in the
t: 40 oil or water phase (0.3 or 6.9 mN m -1). Protein-lecithin
.9
rtl
30
complexes are known to be formed by sonication 34 ,35l or
t: ,,
lowering ofpH. 36 - 38 ) Although PC and PE are zwitterionic
\
OJ
..... ... \
...
~(.) 20 .. ... \
\
over a wide range of pH, acidic phospholipids (phosphatidic
~ 'Ill.... \, acid, PS, PI, etc.) are negatively charged, and then interact
I-<
10 .. \
with positively changed [3-lactoglobulin molecules at pH
.....OJ '\ '"
..s __ ~~I~ft~1~~I~I~I~"w"I_ _~I~I~I!~lIlld~~,~I..~,~~,_. 4.5. This complexing of [3-1actoglobulin with lecithin at the
0
-00 -5 -4 -3 -2 oil-water interface will make densely packed films and lower
the surface tension. In the emulsion at pH 4.5, the increased
complexing between [3-1actoglobulin and lecithin in aqueous
Fig. 4. Effects of the Concentration of Pure Egg PC on the Interfacial phase during sonicating emulsification may weaken the film
Tension between 1/- Tetradecane and (3- Lactoglobulin Solution. formation around oil droplets, and then destabilize the
InterfaCial tension at the interlace of II-tetradecane and 10'-" wt% [J-lactoglobulin emulsion.
slutlOn after 24 h was expressed as a function of the concentration or pure egg PC
added in oil or water phase: 0, pure PC (in water phase); •. fJ-Iactoglobulin +
pure egg PC (in water phase); pure egg (in oil phase); II, Ii-lactoglobulin + pure References
egg PC (in oil phase).
1) C. V. Morr and E. A. Forgeding, Food Teclmol., 44.100-112 (1990).
2) A. Kilara, in "Protein Functionality in Food Systems," Basic
exists as a mixture of lamellar mesophases and vesicles, and Symposium Series, ed. by N. S. Hettiarachchy and G. R. Ziegler,
the less hydrophilic PE forms reversed hexagonal phases. 33 ) Marcel Dekker, Inc" New York. 1994, pp. 325-355.
This may be the reason for a lower surface activity oflecithin 3) J. F. Hayes, B. Stranaghan, and 1. A. Dunkerley, Nell' Zealand 1.
added in the water phase than that added in the oil phase Dairy Sci. Teclmol., 14, 259-264 (1979).
4) M. Shimizu, T. Kamiya, and K. Yamauchi, Agric. BioI. Chem., 45,
with or without 13-lactoglobulin. 2491-2496 (1981).
The concentration of pure egg PC dissolved in water 5) R. Peltonen-Shalaby and M. E. Mangino, J. F'ood Sci., 51, 91-95
phase with and wihtout fJ-lactoglobulin affected its inter- (1986).
facial tension very weakly (Fig. 4). Even when dissolved in 6) K. L. Fligner, M. A. Fligner, and M. E. Mangino, Food Hydrocolloids,
4,95··104 (1991).
the oil phase, a very high concentration is needed to lower
7) K. L. Fligner, M. A. Fligner, and M. E. Mangino, Food Hydro collo ids,
the tension with or without fJ-lactoglobulin in the water 5, 269-280 (J 991).
phase. The less tendency of pure PC to lower interfacial 8) J. A. Hunt and D. G. Dalgleish, J. Agric. Food Che11l .. 42,2131-2135
tension than crude PC seems to be agreed well with the (1994).
emulsion stability experiment. 9) J. A. Hunt and D. G. Dalgleish, 1. Food Sci., 60. 1120-1131 (1994).
10) D. Karleskind, I. Laye, C. V. Morr, and T. W. Schenz. J. Food Sci.,
Figure 5 shows that the interfacial tension of [3- 61. 5458 (1996).
lactoglobulin at pH 4.5 continued to decrease for 24 h, 11) E. Dickinson, 1. Food Eng .. 22, 59-74 (1994).
and reached a lower value than pH 7.0 (Fig. 2). The 12) B. F. Szuhaj (ed.), "Lecithins: Source, Manufacture and Uses,"
f3-lactoglobulin molecule near the isoelectric point will be American Oil Chemist' Society, Champaign, IL, 1989.
more hydrophobic and compact in shape, and then ar- 13) E. Dickinson, Trends Food Sci. Techno!., 4, 330-334 (1993).
14) L. Rydhag and I. Wilton, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 58,830-837 (1981).
ranged into interfacial film more slowly and densely than 15) F. Ishii, I. Sasaki, and H. Ogata, J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 42,513-515
at pH 7.0. The considerable adsorption of j3-1actoglobulin (1990),
molecules on the surface of oil droplet~; at pH near the 16) Y. Fang and D. G. Dalgleish, Colloids and SUifaces B: Biointelfaces,