Emulsifying behaviour of gum arabic. Part 1: Effect of the nature of the oil phase on the emulsion droplet-size distribution

The influence of the nature of the oil phase on the emulsifying behaviour of gum arabic has been investigated at neutral pH. Time-dependent droplet-size distributions are reported for oil-in-water emulsions (1% wt gum, 10% vol. oil) made with n-hexadecane, -limonene and orange oil. Three different gum samples of known analytical composition have been compared, and it is found that the gum giving the most rapid lowering of the tension at the n-hexadecane-water interface also gives the most stable n-hexadecane-in-water emulsions as well as the smallest droplets with all three oils. On the other hand, the same gum gives the poorest stability of the -limonene-in-water and orange oil-in-water emulsions.