Foaming Properties of Egg Albumen with a Bubbling Apparatus Compared with Whipping

Neither standard method nor instrument exists to accurately measure foaming properties in food. Usually, whipping methods are used but they are only moderately reproducible. We used an original apparatus in which foam was generated by bubbling and then analyzed by conductimetry (liquid in the foam) and a uniline camera (foam volume). The foaming properties of a series of egg-white powders were studied. Among parameters describing foam formation and destabilization, three were repeatable and discriminating. They were correlated with those obtained with whipping methods. Easy to use and rapid, the bubbling method is an alternative for controlling and measuring the foaming properties of egg-white.