Soft tribology of oil-continuous emulsions

•First study aimed at investigating soft tribological behaviour of oil continuous emulsions.•Increased phase volume leads to increased friction in the elastohydrodynamic regime whereas.•Lubrication in the boundary regime is improved when the phase volume is increased.•Elastohydrodynamic lubrication is independent of the aqueous phase composition and the type of emulsifier used. Lubrication behaviour of foodstuff is related to mouthfeel perception and consumer appreciation. Soft tribology of food related products has mainly been investigated with semi-solid food, polymer solutions and water continuous emulsions, and this is the first study aimed at investigating soft tribolocigal behaviour of oil continuous emulsions. All the emulsions considered here exhibit the same trends in terms of lubrication behaviour, where little boundary lubrication is observed at the entrainment speed considered. The volume of dispersed aqueous phase affects overall tribology of oil continuous emulsions via an increase in their dynamic viscosity. Increasing the phase volume leads to an increase in friction in the elastohydrodynamic regime whereas the lubrication in the boundary regime is improved. Elastohydrodynamic lubrication is independent of the aqueous phase composition and the type of emulsifier present at the water–oil interface. These parameters affect boundary lubrication of emulsion systems exhibiting droplet size bigger than the elastohydrodynamic oil film thickness. This is expected to have a significant impact on the design of low fat emulsions that match the lubrication properties of their full fat version.