Lipid emulsions

Emulsions are liquid-liquid mixtures with one liquid contained as droplets within the other. The droplets are typically 1 mu m in diameter, and the pr operties of the emulsions are Very dependent on the droplet structure, whic h is stabilised by surface-active emulsifier molecules. Most food emulsions are made from the raw ingredients using an homogenisation process to form small droplets. The paper describes methods of measuring droplet size and e mulsion stability, and discusses the physical origin of emulsion texture, f lavour and appearance.