Performance of rice protein hydrolysates as a stabilizing agent on oil-in-water emulsions

Rice protein isolate (RPI) has been receiving increasing attention from the food industry due to its performance as an emulsifier. However, it is possible to enlarge its field of applications through enzymatic hydrolysis. Therefore, this work aimed to investigate the effects of the controlled enzymatic hydrolysis (degree of hydrolysis DH as 2, 6, and 10%) using Flavourzyme on the physicochemical properties of rice protein and to identify the minimum concentration of these hydrolysates (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%) to form and stabilize oil/water emulsion. The physicochemical, interfacial tension (IT), and surface characteristics of RPI and their hydrolysates (RPH) were determined. Even at a lower protein concentration (1.0%), protein hydrolysate presented lower IT when compared with RPI at a higher protein concentration (1.5%). The interfacial tension decreased from 17.6 mN/m to 9.9 mN/m when RPI was hydrolyzed. Moreover, enzymatic hydrolysis (DH 6 and 10%) enhanced the protein solubility by almost 20% over a pH range of 3-11. The improved amphiphilic property of RPH, supported by the results of IT and solubility, was confirmed by the higher emulsion stability indicated by the Turbiscan and emulsion stability indexes. Emulsions stabilized by RPH (DH 6% and 10%) at lower protein concentrations (1%) exhibited better physical stability than RPI at higher protein concentrations (1.5%). In this work, we verified the minimum concentration of rice protein hydrolysate required to form and stabilize oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions.