Preparation and characterisation of a novel emulsifier system based on glycerol monooleate by spray-drying

Glycerol monooleate (GMO) improves creaming stability in protein-stabilised emulsions but is unsuitable for direct aqueous applications due to its low solubility in water. Encapsulation could transform waxy solid GMO into a water-dispersible powder. This study assessed spray-drying to produce instantised GMO powders, and investigated emulsion formulation (GMO concentration (33.6%, 47.0%); dextrose equivalent (DE) values of maltodextrin (DE 10, 18)) on emulsion and powder properties. Results showed that all homogenised emulsions were suitable for spray-drying due to their high emulsion stability, monomodal droplet size distributions (150–180 nm) and low viscosity (20–65 mPa s). All instantised powders exhibited good dispersibility (65–90%) in water. The instantised powder with low GMO levels showed high encapsulation efficiencies (93–94%) with low surface oils (3%) and uniform droplet size distributions when reconstituted. Results demonstrated that spray-drying can successfully produce instantised powders for food applications to improve product quality.