Formulation and physical characterization of high methoxyl pectin and sunflower oil wax emulsions

ABSTRACT FORMULATION AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF HIGH METHOXYL PECTIN AND SUNFLOWER OIL WAX EMULSIONS AKKAYA, Sinem M.Sc. in Food Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Fahrettin GÖĞÜŞ Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mecit Halil ÖZTOP July 2019 69 pages Pectin is a polysaccharide found on the cell walls of many plants. It is used often in food industry due to its gelling properties. Waxes are commonly used as edible coatings to enhance the water barrier properties of food products. There are many studies about emulsions, which are prepared with oil, wax and polysaccharides. This study focused on preparing emulsions with sunflower oil wax and pectin at different concentrations and characterization of the emulsions by using particle size, rheology, light microscope and low-resolution Time Domain NMR relaxometry experiments. Pectin and wax emulsions were prepared at concentrations of 5% wax and 5%, 7%, 10% pectin by using high shear homogenization. The mean particle size results of the emulsions were recorded between 1-3 µm. The optical microscope results confirmed the particle size measurements. Considering the rheology results, it was concluded that the flow behavior did not change depending on the pectin concentration. NMR spin-spin T2 relaxation times were also measured to understand the differences between emulsions. T2 (relaxation times) decreased, as pectin concentration increased and the change in relaxation times provided insight on the formation and stability of the emulsions. It was measured as 312.48±4.70 ms for 5% pectin containing sample and 197.62±1.26 ms, 115.24±1.87 ms for 7% and 10%. Key Words: Pectin, Sunflower Wax, Particle Size, Rheology, NMR Relaxometry