Structure and stability of heat-treated concentrated dairy-protein-stabilised oil-in-water emulsions: A stability map characterisation approach

Emulsion instabilities such as depletion flocculation, coalescence, aggregation and heat-induced protein aggregation may be detrimental to the production of sterilised food emulsions. The type and the amount of protein present in the continuous phase and at the oil–water interface are crucial in the design of emulsions with appropriate stability. In this study, four oil-in-water model emulsion systems (pH 6.8–7.0) were formulated, characterised and categorised according to the potential interactions between protein-coated or surfactant-coated emulsion droplets and non-adsorbed proteins present in the continuous phase. The heat stability, the creaming behaviour and the flow behaviour of the model emulsions were influenced by both the emulsifier type and the type of protein in the continuous phase. The results suggest that this stability map approach of predicting droplet–droplet, droplet–protein and protein–protein interactions will be useful for the future design of heat-stable emulsion-based beverages with good creaming stability at high protein concentrations.