Performance of whey protein hydrolysate-maltodextrin conjugates as emulsifiers in model infant formula emulsions

Model infant formula emulsions containing 15.5, 35.0 and 70.0 g L-1 protein, soybean oil and maltodextrin (MD), respectively, were prepared. Emulsions were stabilised by whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) + CITREM (9 g L-1), WPH lecithin (9 g L-1) or WPH conjugated with MD (WPH-MD). All emulsions had mono-modal oil droplet size distributions post-homogenisation with mean oil droplet diameters (D-4,D-3) of <1.0 mu m. No changes in the D-4,D-3 were observed after heat treatment (95 degrees C, 15 min) of the emulsions. Accelerated storage (40 degrees C, 10 d) of unheated emulsions resulted in an increase in D-4,D-3 for CITREM (2.86 mu m) and lecithin (5.36 mu m) containing emulsions. Heated emulsions displayed better stability to accelerated storage with no increase in D-4,D-3 for CITREM and an increase in D-4,D-3 for lecithin (2.71 mu m) containing emulsions. No increase in D-4,D-3 over storage was observed for unheated or heated WPH-MD emulsion, indicating its superior stability. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.