Linear and non-linear viscoelasticity of low-in-cholesterol mayonnaise

Five different mayonnaise products were prepared with constant composition except for the type of egg product used. The linear viscoelastic functions were superposed using a time-temperature superposition method and the shift -factor showed an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence. The thermal suscep tibility was found to be higher for processed-egg-containing mayonnaise and when egg yolk was used instead of whole egg as the emulsifier. Transient f low curves always showed a stress overshoot, but a stress undershoot was fo und for whole-egg-containing emulsions at high shear rates. Processed yolk gave rise to higher storage modulus values than did native yolk. This effec t lost significance when yolk was diluted by native egg white. Mayonnaise m ade from egg yolk was always more viscous and did not show a stress undersh oot in transient flow. The non-linear relaxation modulus was factorized as the product of the linear relaxation modulus and the damping function. Henc e, the Wagner model was able to predict the transient flow of these emulsio ns fairly well. However, this model failed at low shear rates. This fact ma y be explained on the basis of wall-slip phenomena.