Evaluation of viscosity and pH on Emulsions of Virgin Coconut Oil Beverages

Abstract

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) beverages are value added products of VCO which produced by emulsifying non polar VCO in a polar solvent by adding emulsifier. In this research, stability of VCO in water emulsion beverage at various volume percentages of VCO to water using soy lecithin as natural emulsifier was studied. The beverage emulsions were prepared by homogenizing VCO in water at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%, respectively. The soy lecithin was added to the solutions at 1% (v/v). The stability of VCO beverage emulsions was evaluated from its viscosity, pH, and volume of formed-cream of both fresh and after-cycle-emulsions. It was found from the research that in terms of viscosity and pH, the beverage emulsion at 20% of VCO was the most stable. Further research is needed to avoid the cream formation which tends to destabilize the VCO beverage emulsion.