Fabrication and characterization of acidic high internal phase emulsion gels stabilized solely by wheat gluten for plant-based mayonnaise

Yong-Hui Wang; Xiao-Wei Chen; Meng-Meng Zhu; Xue-Ting Zhou; Shang-De Sun; Zi-Rui Du; Ji-Hong Huang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137416

Fabrication and characterization of acidic high internal phase emulsion gels stabilized solely by wheat gluten for plant-based mayonnaise

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Nov 10;283(Pt 2):137416. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137416. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yong-Hui Wang¹, Xiao-Wei Chen², Meng-Meng Zhu³, Xue-Ting Zhou³, Shang-De Sun⁴, Zi-Rui Du⁵, Ji-Hong Huang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Food and Pharmacy College, Xuchang University, Xuchang 461000, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Functional Food Green Manufacturing, Xuchang 461000, Henan Province, China.
² College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; Food Laboratory of Zhongyuan, Luohe 462300, China. Electronic address: fexwchen@haut.edu.cn.
³ College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
⁴ College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; Food Laboratory of Zhongyuan, Luohe 462300, China.
⁵ Food and Pharmacy College, Xuchang University, Xuchang 461000, China.
⁶ Food and Pharmacy College, Xuchang University, Xuchang 461000, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Functional Food Green Manufacturing, Xuchang 461000, Henan Province, China. Electronic address: huangjih1216@126.com.

PMID: 39532168
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137416

Abstract

Plant-based diets are currently gaining more popularity as a means of reducing the environmental footprint and promoting human health. Herein, plant protein-based acidic high internal phase emulsion gels (HIPE gels) were fabricated via a facile one-pot approach using wheat gluten (WG) solely. Pre-dissolving WG in edible vinegar-water solution was contributed to the fabrication of stable emulsion gels. Factors that affect the structure and performance of plant proteins as HIPE gels stabilizers were investigated. The results indicated that the stable HIPE gels could be formed with a vinegar concentration between 5 % and 20 % and a WG concentration of 1.0 %-7.5 % only. Microscopy images reveal that a collaboration of the soluble protein molecules adsorption and protein aggregate Pickering stabilization at oil-water interface, which was turned to form stable HIPE gels. In addition, the resulted HIPE gels exhibited shear thinning behavior, viscoelastic features, and good thixotropic recovery, which provide a similar perceived texture and sensory property for formulating egg-free mayonnaise. These findings provide a useful approach to construct HIPE-based softs from low-cost wheat gluten for preparing plant-based mayonnaise.

Keywords: Emulsion gels; High internal phase emulsions (HIPEs); Plant protein; Plant-based mayonnaise; Wheat gluten.