Emulsifying characterization of hens egg yolk proteins in oil-in-water emulsions

Emulsifying properties of egg yolk as a function of pH and oil volume were studied. Egg yolk proteins formed larger emulsion particles at pH 3 and the mean droplet size of the emulsions was decreased with increasing pH. A linear relationship between turbidity and mean droplet size of egg yolk emulsions could not be obtained. This may be due to the floculation of the emulsions. Egg yolk proteins formed thicker multilayers at low oil volume, however total protein adsorption ratio against original proteins was 55–65%, independent to protein and oil concentration. Electrophoretic analysis of the egg yolk emulsion revealed that the main components to adsorb at the interface was glanular lipovitellins, even though its emulsifying property was lower than that of plasma because of poor solubility at low ionic strength (0.1 M NaCl) at pH 7. These results indicate that the main contributor for egg yolk emulsion is granules and it can affect the emulsifying properties of egg yolk at different pH values.