Effects of emulsifiers on the oxidative stability of soybean oil TAG in emulsions

The effects of two types of commercial emulsifiers, sucrose FA esters and polyglycerol FA esters, on the oxidation of soybean oil TAG-in-water emulsions were studied. Both emulsifiers influenced the oxidative stability of soybean oil TAG in the emulsion, but they had little effect on the oxidation of TAG in bulk phase. When the TAG were dispersed with sucrose esters having the same FA composition, the oxidative stability increased as their hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) increased. On the other hand, when the HLB was the same, the oxidative stability increased with increasing acyl chain length of the FA esterified on sucrose ester. However, the effect of the polyglycerol ester could not be explained by the relationship with HLB or the acyl composition. When the stability of TAG in emulsion was compared under the same concentrations of TAG, emulsifier, and oxidation inducer, the TAG dispersed with sucrose esters were oxidatively less stable than with polyglycerol esters. Analysis of the emulsion droplet size suggested that the lower oxidative stability of TAG dispersed with sucrose esters was partly due to their relatively smaller droplet sizes.