Stabilization of olive oil – lemon juice emulsion with polysaccharides

An olive oil – lemon juice Greek salad dressing was developed employing xanthan gum as stabilizer and gum arabic or propylene glycol alginate as emulsifier in various combinations. In general, samples containing xanthan gum arabic were more stable against oil droplet coalescence and less stable against creaming. The use of propylene glycol alginate in the place of gum arabic, on the other hand, resulted in emulsions of higher creaming stability. Application of steady shear rheology and determination of rheological parameter values from the shearing stress-rate of shear curves, indicated that the rheological properties of the dressings were decreased with storage. Dressing texture assessment preference tests indicated that potential consumers of the product may opt for a medium viscosity product and this has to be taken into consideration when designing polysaccharide – stabilized dressings exhibiting a decrease in their textural characteristics with storage time.