Emulsifying Properties of Tremella Fuciformis: A Novel Promising Food Emulsifier
AbstractIn this paper, the emulsifying properties of Tremella fuciformis (TFS) were assessed in comparison with lotus seed (LTS), purple sweet potato (PSPP) and gum arabic (GA) in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. Emulsifying properties were evaluated in terms of the emulsifying activity (EA), emulsifying stability, mean droplet size, zeta potential, shear viscosity and freeze-thaw stability of their emulsions. The results revealed that TFS exhibited excellent EA and best emulsifying stability (100 %) after 21 days at 21 °C. When exposure to 100 °C for 20 min, TFS emulsions showed reduced in droplet size, which was superior as compared to LTS, PSPP, and GA. In zeta-potential test, TFS was proved to be more suitable emulsifier as compared with LTS and GA as it had a comparatively larger magnitude. TFS emulsions showed the smallest droplet size at pH 10.0 followed by pH 3.0 and pH 6.5. Non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior of all four samples remained same at 4.0 % concentration while the apparent viscosity of TFS was the highest among all. The cream index of 4.0 % TFS was also the highest at freeze-thaw cycles. Therefore, the TFS could be used as emulsifier and thickener in food industry.