Effective Factors on the Stability of Oil-in-Water Emulsion Based Beverage: A Review

Beverage emulsions are systems that are composed of two liquids including oil and water which are prepared by homogenizing oil phase in an acidic aqueous phase. They must be stable in both concentrated and diluted form for a period of 6-12 months upon standing at room temperature. Two immiscible phases contained systems are thermodynamically unstable. In other words, they are vulnerable to break down over time by different process such as flocculation, coalescence, gravitational separation, phase inversion and ostwald ripening. The rate of destabilization depends on physicochemical properties of two phases, interfacial layer characteristic and the components present in both continuous and dispersed phase. However, beverage emulsions are thermodynamically unstable; it is possible to make it kinetically stable using an appropriate emulsifier with respect to emulsion properties, change the dispersed phase characteristic in a way that retards its upward movement. In this article, the most common factors affected on beverage oil-in-water emulsion stability are reviewed. We will also introduce some solutions to improve beverage emulsion stability.