ABSTRACT
Commercial food emulsions typically contain a wide variety of different ingredients, including oils, emulsiers, thickening agents, gelling agents, buffering systems, preservatives, antioxidants, chelating agents, sweeteners, salts, colorants, avors, etc. Each of these ingredients has its own unique molecular, physical, and functional properties. Ultimately, the physicochemical, sensory, and nutritional properties of an emulsion-based food product depend on the type of ingredients present, their physical location, and their interactions with each other. The efcient production of high-quality food emulsions therefore depends on knowledge of the contribution that each individual ingredient makes to the overall properties and how this contribution is inuenced by the presence of the other ingredients. One of the most important decisions that a food manufacturer must make during the design, formulation, and production of an emulsion-based food product is the selection of the most appropriate ingredients for that particular application. Each ingredient must exhibit its desired functional properties within the food, while also being economically viable, convenient to use, of reliably high quality, compatible with other ingredients, readily available, and possibly “label friendly.”
