Aquafaba (Chickpea Cooking Water) as a Natural Emulsifier in the Development of Plant-Based Coffee Whitener

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of using aquafaba powder, derived from chickpea cooking water, as a natural emulsifier in the formulation of plant-based coffee whitener was evaluated. For this purpose, coffee whiteners, which are emulsion type products, are obtained by high-shear mixing followed by high-pressure homogenization of the aqueous phase (90% w/w) consisting of aquafaba powder (8%, 8.5%, 9%, 9.5%, and 10% w/w) and maltodextrin (0.2%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% w/w) in different proportions and the oil phase (10% w/w) consisting of palm kernel oil. The model coffee whiteners were evaluated in terms of pH, color, particle size, and physical stability, using the creaming index. According to the stability results, it was determined that emulsion formulations containing 9% aquafaba powder and 1% maltodextrin, and 8.5% aquafaba powder and 1.5% maltodextrin, had no creaming index similar to the commercial dairy-based coffee whitener. Stability results showed that the addition of maltodextrin to the structure of model emulsions had a positive effect on their structural integrity. The addition of maltodextrin supported the stability of the emulsion and reduced the average particle size values. Lastly, a sensory evaluation of coffee samples containing the most stable plant-based coffee whitener emulsions was carried out, comparing them with a commercial dairy-based coffee whitener. A coffee sample with 8.5% aquafaba powder and 1.5% maltodextrin content had the closest acceptability score compared to the commercial coffee whitener. According to all the data obtained from the study, the use of aquafaba as a natural emulsifier in the formulation of plant-based coffee whitener was found appropriate.