Rheology of spray-dried egg-yolk products

Abstract

The emulsification process, as weIl as and the emulsion rheology and stability, greatly depends on the rheological properties of the continuous phase, the most important ingredient of which is yolk. However, since native yolk is not microbiologically stable, processing of yolk, such as spray-drying, is necessary for food applications. The influence of processing by spray-drying on the microstructure and rheological properties of yolk was investigated using oscillatory, creep and steady state flow measurements. The spray-drying process produces denaturation of proteins giving rise to a dramatic change from a fluid-like behaviour, as corresponds to the native yolk, to a gel-like behaviour corresponding to the reconstituted dried yolk (45% solids). Temperature exerts a slight influence on the linear viscoelastic properties of processed yolk.