Effect of high pressure homogenization (HPH) on emulsifying and encapsulant capacities of cashew gum

Abstract

The extensive biodiversity that Brazil has, with its satisfactory characteristics of soil and climate makes it an energetic producer of natural substances, such as gums exsudated of trees or shrubs such as cashew gum. In assessing the size in area planted with cashew, its average density and the amount of exsudate produced per plant/year appears that Brazil has a production capacity of cashew gum in amount greater than the country imports of gum Arabic. Several researchers have studied the cashew gum in order to evaluate its applicability as a thickening agent, drying, emulsifying, encapsulating, gelling, stabilizing and film forming in foods. The UHPH is a famously technology used to produce fine emulsions for possessing ability to reduce the size of the material dispersed in the emulsion, allowing greater retention of the core to obtain microcapsules by spray drying. In addition, recent studies showed an increase in hydrophobic content of natural polymers, an important factor in the formation of emulsions. The main limitations in the production of microcapsules are the size of the particles and, when we turn specifically to encapsulation by spray-dryer, we have a particle size distribution (PSD) very uneven. The UHPH is a technique aimed to reduce the particle size and provide more homogeneous PSD in emulsions. Thus, we aimed to study the effect of UHPH in solution, emulsification and microencapsulation of cashew gum in order to get a Brazilian gum with better functional features for the food industry, and produce more stable emulsions and microcapsules with smaller size and more homogenous PSD. (AU)