Interfacial and foaming characterisation of mixed protein-starch particle systems for food-foam applications

This work presents mixed protein-starch systems as effective foaming agents and stabilisers. The starch size and hydrophobicity play a dominant role in determining the levels of synergy observed. Egg White Protein (EWP) and Pea Protein Isolate (PPI) were selected at two concentrations (0.5, 1 wt. %) along with three starch species of concentrations between 0.5, 1, 3 & 5wt. %. Two commercial OSA-modified starches are compared to a native granule and its heat-treated counter part. The system's effectiveness to incorporate air (overrun) as well as its capacity to hold structure (half life) is evaluated. starch's physical properties (contact angle and size) and their effect on the nature of the Air/Water (A/W) interface (interfacial dilatation rheology, surface tension) are also explored. The effect of protein species as well as starch size and hydrophobicity on foam stability is determined and discussed. The study demonstrates that addition of OSA modified starch (0-5wt%) to (EWP) foams can enhance foam stability by up to 1200% without compromising the foaming capacity, mainly due to a hypothesised exclusion volume effect. Where as the larger heat-treated starch granule is found to increase stability of wet foams by 800%, through a combination of mechanisms. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.