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Coalescence Behavior of Pure and Natural Fat Droplets Characterized via Micromanipulation

  • Original Paper
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Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

For two approaching oil droplets, a region of arrested coalescence lies between full coalescence and total stability. Here the fusion of two droplets begins, but they are stopped from fully relaxing into one spherical droplet. The internal rigidity of the solid fat network within each droplet can provide the resistance necessary to arrest the shape change driven by Laplace pressure. These intermediate doublet structures lead to the partially-coalesced fat networks important for the desired physical properties of ice cream and whipped topping. The use of micromanipulation techniques allows coalescence events between two oil droplets to be microscopically observed. In this study, oil droplets composed of different fats were manipulated at varying elastic moduli, interfacial tension, and radii. It was seen that increasing the elastic moduli of the droplets or increasing droplet radii resulted in coalescence being arrested earlier. Under these experimental conditions, different interfacial tensions did not change the coalescence behavior between two oil droplets.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by [National Research Initiative or Agriculture and Food Research Initiative] Grant No 2014-67017-21652 from the USDA National Institute of Food And Agriculture, Nutrients and health, improving food quality––A1361.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1605 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    A. E. Thiel, R. W. Hartel & K. J. Hendrickson

  2. School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Anzac Parade, Kensington, NSW, 2033, Australia

    P. T. Spicer

Authors
  1. A. E. Thiel
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  2. R. W. Hartel
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  3. P. T. Spicer
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  4. K. J. Hendrickson
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Correspondence to R. W. Hartel.

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Thiel, A.E., Hartel, R.W., Spicer, P.T. et al. Coalescence Behavior of Pure and Natural Fat Droplets Characterized via Micromanipulation. J Am Oil Chem Soc 93, 1467–1477 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-016-2896-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-016-2896-4

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