Enzymatically hydrolyzed egg yolk peptide-quercetin complexes as Pickering stabilizers for reduced-fat whipping cream

Reducing fat content in whipping creams typically impairs foam stability and overall quality due to insufficient partial coalescence of fat globules. In this study, we developed a reduced-fat whipping cream (20% fat) stabilized by Pickering nanoparticles prepared from quercetin complexed with peptides derived from enzymatically hydrolyzed defatted egg yolk protein (DEYPH-Que), with the non-hydrolyzed counterpart (DEYP-Que) as a direct comparison to isolate the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis. The oil phase was optimized by partially substituting hydrogenated palm oil (HPO) with coconut oil (CNO). The optimal HPO:CNO = 5:5 blend showed β'-dominant polymorphism and provided a balance between shape retention at room temperature and rapid melting in the oral cavity. Compared to the non-hydrolyzed DEYP-Que control, the DEYPH-Que-stabilized cream exhibited significantly increased fat coalescence rate (by 28.2%) and overrun (by 21.2%), reaching approximately 90% of the commercial product's overrun. Sensory evaluation revealed no significant difference in overall acceptability between the DEYPH-Que cream and the commercial control. These findings indicate that controlled hydrolysis, by enhancing protein flexibility, provides an effective complement to polyphenol complexation for designing fat replacers that combine interfacial stability, oxidative stability, and whipping performance in reduced-fat creams.