Polar lipid fraction from oat (Avena sativa): characterization and use as an o/w emulsifier

Oat seeds have an oil content of up to 13?%, of which up to 34?% can be polar lipids (glycolipids and phospholipids). Because of their amphiphilic structure, these polar lipids are potential emulsifiers. In this study, polar lipid fraction from oat produced by a supercritical fluid extraction process was fractionated into different polar lipid classes by HPLC and the lipid classes in subfractions were identified by comparing retention times with reference compounds and performing co-injections. The oat polar lipid fraction contained monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, steryl glycoside, and phosphatidyl choline, and also possibly phosphatidyl inositol. The polar lipid fraction was also used as an emulsifier to produce oil-in-water emulsions with different amounts of emulsifier and oil, and the stability and other properties of emulsions were studied. Emulsions were formed quite easily, but they were prone to rapid creaming even after a couple of days of storage at ambient conditions. Droplet size and droplet size distribution of the emulsions seemed to be slightly smaller with smaller amount of oil and larger amount of emulsifier. Generally, the droplet size of the emulsions was in the range of 0.2?C4???m, and with the largest amount of oil (5?%, w/v) up to 10???m. The upper phase of creamed emulsions contained slightly larger droplets, up to 30???m, while the lower phase retained smaller droplets. Microscopic investigation revealed that the increase in droplet size of the upper phase was mainly due to aggregation, which implies that these emulsions may be stable against coalescence to some extent.