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Emulsions are often produced using shear forces. In a laboratory scale, this can be in a rotor-stator mixer. In a laboratory or pilot scale, a high-pressure homogenizer is often used. There are both similarities and differences between emulsion formation in rotor-stator mixers and high-pressure homogenizers. Both devices force fluid through a narrow gap, creating a turbulent jet.
However, the detailed effects of a rotor stator device versus a high-pressure homogenizer on the meso- and micro-scale characteristics of a protein stabilized emulsion are largely unknown.
In this study, microstructural differences in protein and oil phase within the emulsions could be revealed with small angle X-ray scattering after the different processing steps over storage time. For homogenized emulsions, the conformational changes of proteins are more pronounced than for the emulsions prepared with a rotor stator device. A stable ordered oil phase appears at the interface after high-pressure homogenization, while the rotor stator mixer leads to a molecular rearrangement in the oil with a timescale of about 30 min. These results broaden our understanding of the microstructure of emulsions affected by processing steps.