Rheology and microstructure of gluten and soya-based o/w emulsions

Highly concentrated oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion stabilised by means of gluten and soya protein isolate (SPI) at low pH have been characterized by means of linear dynamic viscoelasticity and droplet size distribution analysis (DSD). The microstructure of these emulsions has been characterized at a colloidal level by using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and light microscopy (LM). These emulsions always exhibited a behaviour characteristic of highly flocculated emulsions with a mechanical spectrum showing a well-developed plateau region. DSD results generally showed log normal bimodal profiles. Microstructure images revealed occurrence of a close packing of droplets with a broad distribution of sizes participating in the formation of a three dimensional flocculated network. The Mason model of elasticity of compressed emulsions has been used to correlate viscoelastic and microstructural parameters giving adequate fitting but underestimating the elastic properties obtained for the highest concentration of gluten. These deviations may be explained in terms of an enhancement of the elastic network formed in the aqueous phase in which the glutenin fraction must play an important role.