Lecithin functions as an emulsifier in many food products as well. The majority of food products tend to have blends of fats and water solutions present. An emulsifying agent is required to ensure that this mixture remains stable.
Especially when looking at the case of commercial food products which require product stability over a longer period of time, the requirement of the emulsifier becomes even more apparent.
Standard lecithin is a blend of PC, PI, PE, and other glycolipids. Modifying lecithins and changing proportions of components a wide range of HLB values can be achieved specially designed to suit the required emulsion properties or surface activity. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) has oil in water emulsion characteristics while PE, PI, PA have water in oil properties. Lecithin is used for interface activity, fat dispersion, emulsion stabilization purposes.
Hard fat powders are difficult to wet and disperse because they are hydrophobic & high protein ingredients are hydrophilic & they hydrate too quickly forming clumps. Lecithin with its instant zing properties is used in instant mixes.
Lecithin is used for a wetting agent, homogenization, and dispersion agent and for water absorption.
Emulsions occur in two categories and both of these categories have examples in the food sector that we are all familiar with:
Water in Oil. Butte, Margarines, oil is in continuous form while water is dispersed in small droplets.
Oil in Water e.g. Milk, cream (buttercream). Milk and milk fat -water is the continuous phase and fat is in suspended form.
To keep both these phase combinations stable, emulsifiers are required. Emulsifiers have a water-stable component (in grey above) and an oil-stable component (in amber above). These allow emulsifiers to keep these oil-water mixtures stable.
Lecithin is one of the better emulsifiers available for food applications. First and foremost, it is a natural extract. It harbors very little of the risk associated with chemically synthesized emulsifiers. Lecithin is a molecule that was evolved in biological systems, and so it would be less risky to consume this in food products. Second, higher purity lecithin has a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance with an almost equivalent affinity to fats and water. This offers the user much better flexibility in application composition.
In the case of most commercial applications of food, there is a mixture of both of these types of emulsion along with a third solid phase present. Specific examples of applications of lecithin in the food sector are listed below.
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