Effect of soybean oil content on textural, rheological, and microstructural properties of WBAXs-SPI emulsion-filled gels

This study aimed to prepare wheat bran arabinoxylans-soy protein isolate (WBAXs-SPI) emulsion-filled gels with different oil contents and investigate their rheological, textural, water-holding capacity (WHC), and microstructural properties. The rheological analysis results showed that the maximum correlation interaction occurs when the soybean oil concentration was 10%, and the elastic modulus (G') reaches the highest value of 13,562 Pa. Interestingly, the WHC and texture change trend of WBAXs-SPI emulsion-filled gel were consistent with rheology. Meanwhile, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) observation indicated that the emulsion-filled gels formed an interpenetrating polysaccharide-protein complex network system. Therefore, the filling emulsion performance could be adjusted by changing the concentration of oil droplets as the active filler. This provides the possibility of developing new food materials encapsulating fat-soluble substances with a low oil rate and more stable structure.