Formation, characterization, and storage stability of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by fibrillated microcrystalline cellulose

Abstract

There is a growing demand for new, environmentally sustainable, clean label food additives driven by consumers’ desire for healthier and sensorially appealing food products. The aim of this thesis is to study a novel, “clean label” food additive called fibrillated microcrystalline cellulose (fMCC) in the formation of emulsions, elucidate its stabilization mechanism, as well as emulsion storage stability at room temperature over time. To this aim, oil-in-water emulsions with fMCC and vegetable oil were formed via mechanical treatment. It was found that the oil droplets anchor on the surface of the fibrils attached to the microcrystalline cellulose. After homogenization fMCC formed large, entangled aggregates that were located in the continuous phase of the emulsion. This increased the viscosity of the emulsion, which contributed to the stability of the system. During storage, further aggregation was observed. High oil content emulsions exhibit some coalescence, while oil droplets in low oil content emulsions remained unchanged. In this thesis, it was shown that fMCC can be used as a suitable and environmentally sustainable ingredient for emulsion formation and stabilization, with the added benefit of increasing the fiber content of many processed foods and thus increasing their nutritional value.