RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF OIL-IN-WATER EMULSIONS WITH FLAXSEED GUM

There are many hydrocolloids that are used as thickening agents in food emulsions and improve their quality and shelf life. Flaxseed is one of the healthy grains that could be used in functional foods development. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of flaxseed gum concentration and temperature on the rheological properties of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions with flaxseed gum (FG). FG solution and O/W emulsions with different hydrocolloids were prepared. The rheological behavior of the samples was determined, the flow behavior index (n) and a consistency index (k) values were assayed. The emulsions containing the greatest percentage of gums presented higher viscosity than the reference emulsions. This study shows a good potential of flaxseed gum to be used as a thickening agent in O/W emulsions.