Performance of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by different types of surface-active components

[Display omitted] •O/W emulsions were produced with low levels of SAC.•Structure and concentration of SAC were correlated with IT and emulsion properties.•Two types of dispersed phases were evaluated: fish oil and orange essential oil.•Increase in the SAC concentration reduced the IT, except for GE.•WPI and MS had different effects on the IT and the emulsion stabilization. The emulsion stability depends on the physicochemical properties of the dispersed phase and their interaction with the continuous phase. Surface-active compounds (SAC) are added in emulsions to reduce the interfacial tension (IT) between these phases and keep the oil droplets stabilized. Moreover, small amounts of SAC can occupy intermolecular voids in the dried matrix, reducing the oxidation. However, the formulation must reflect a trade-off between protection and emulsion stabilization. Therefore, this work aimed to identify the minimum concentration of SAC (modified starch-MS, gelatin-GE, and whey protein isolate-WPI) ranging from 0.48 to 6 % (w/w) to form and stabilize droplets of an unsaturated triglyceride (fish oil–FO) or a volatile oil (orange essential oil–OEO). GE did not change the IT (6.7 mN/m) and stabilized the emulsions only through an increase of the viscosity (∼42 mPas for FO-emulsions and ∼97 mPas for OEO-emulsions), presenting high droplet size (∼10 μm) and low surface charge (∼1.5 mV). WPI reduced the IT to a limit value (4.5 mN/m at 1.2 % w/w for OEO and 5.3 mN/m at 2.4 % w/w for FO), whereas MS reduce constantly the IT with the increase of the concentration for both oils (∼4.2 mN/m at 6 % w/w). Both WPI and MS-emulsions presented similar droplet size (∼2.0 μm), but WPI presented higher surface charge of WPI-emulsions (−45 mV) than MS-emulsions (−30 mV). This study allowed to gain a consistent understanding of structure-property relationships on the use of SAC in emulsions.