Main Classification Of Food Emulsifiers
Oct 25, 2020
In addition to the size and shape of alkyl group, the difference of properties of emulsifier is mainly related to the difference of hydrophilic group. The change of hydrophilic group is much greater than that of hydrophobic group. Therefore, the classification of emulsifier is generally based on the structure of hydrophilic group, that is, according to the type of ion.
1. Ionic emulsifier:
When the emulsifier is dissolved in water, it is called the ionic emulsifier, if the emulsifier is dissolved in water and dissociates into a smaller cation and a larger anion group including hydrocarbon groups, and the anionic group acts as the emulsifier. If the emulsifier is dissolved in water, it will produce smaller anions and a larger cation This emulsifier is called cationic emulsifier. Amphoteric emulsifier molecule is also composed of lipophilic non-polar part and hydrophilic polar part. The hydrophilic polar part contains both anions and cations.
In the ionic emulsifier industry, anionic emulsifier is the first developed, the largest production, the most varieties and the most successful industrialization. The anionic emulsifiers commonly used in food industry are alkyl carboxylate, phosphate, etc., while the common amphoteric emulsifiers are lecithin. Cationic emulsifier is seldom used in food industry.
2. Nonionic emulsifier: the nonionic emulsifier is non ionized in water. When it is dissolved in water, the hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups on the same molecule play the role of lipophilic and hydrophilic respectively. It is because the non-ionic emulsifier does not ionize in water and does not form ions, which makes the non-ionic emulsifier have better performance than the ionic emulsifier in some aspects.
The above classification is based on the structural characteristics of emulsifiers. In actual production, there are also classification according to the relative strength of hydrophilic and lipophilic emulsifiers, including (O / W) emulsifiers and lipophilic emulsifiers. Generally speaking, the emulsions with strong hydrophilicity mainly form oil in water (0, / W) emulsions, and the emulsions with strong lipophilic properties mainly form water in oil (w / O) emulsions. However, it should be pointed out that when emulsifier is used to prepare emulsion, it is not only affected by the emulsifier itself, but also affected by the material composition, pH value and temperature of 8 ℃.
