Effect of compositional formulation on texture and microstructural of whey protein foam

- The proteinaceous foams consist primarily of whey proteins.
- The amount of olive oil absorbed, retained and released by foams was calculated.
- Compression tests and X-ray microtomographical (μCT) analysis were performed.
- Oil absorption capacity of foams is affected by their formulation.
- A correlation exists among microstructural and mechanical parameters.

This research was designed to determine whether different formulations of proteinaceous foams would help to retain a higher content of olive oil. The amount of olive oil absorbed, retained and released by these foams was calculated and texture tests were performed. X-ray microtomographical (μCT) analysis was also used to study the structure of the foams quantified by image analysis. Furthermore, the information gained from the μCT analysis i.e. the geometric parameters mentioned above, provided the required information to characterise and to investigate if any, the correlation among the microstructures and textural properties of the proteinaceous foam samples. The results from this study do not only prove that the percentage of absorbed, retained and released olive oil of this protein foams is highly affected by their formulation but also showed that a correlation exists among some of the microstructural and mechanical parameters of the proteinaceous foams.