Mayonnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion typically containing more than 74% vegetable oil (minimum 65%).
In mayonnaise production, egg yolk is used as an emulsifier at a level commonly between 4% and 8%. Water makes up the continuous phase of the formula at 5-15% with various other additives for flavor such as salt, sugar, spices and vinegar or an alternative edible acid (i.e. lemon or lime juice).
Commercial mayonnaise production is often a two-step process. In the first step, oil is coarsely dispersed (i.e. 20-100μm) in a pre-mix tank along with the other required ingredients. The resulting pre-mix is then transferred from the tank in a flowing stream through an emulsifying machine to finely sub-divide the oil into droplets averaging between 1-5μm in size.
The sub-division of oil into fine droplets forms a densely packed (i.e. space-filling) structure that creates a high viscosity oil-in-water emulsion. High viscosity is a desirable quality for industrial mayonnaise because it improves the level of stability in the product.
The physical structure formed during mayonnaise processing is largely dependent on the product’s oil volume fraction and droplet size distribution. The densely packed structure of oil droplets determines the consistency and rheological properties of mayonnaise. The smaller the droplets are, the more densely packed the mayonnaise structure becomes, resulting in higher viscosities. So if stiffer mayonnaise is desired, mayonnaise equipment capable of producing smaller oil droplets is necessary.
For the second step of the mayonnaise production process, the mayonnaise pre-mix can either be pumped through a Quadro Ytron® Z-Emulsifier.
If a typical mayonnaise is desired with droplet sizes between 1-5μm, the Z Emulsifier is an ideal solution. The Z Emulsifier allows custom selection of up to three stages of rotor-stator tooling to meet the needs of processing mayonnaise at a higher capacity than a colloid mill while maintaining a single-pass process. If a stiffer mayonnaise is desired our new HV-Emulsifier can be used to significantly reduce oil droplet size (i.e. below 1μm is possible), and more easily attain a densely packed structure, resulting in a higher viscosity product.
The consistency and properties of mayonnaise can be finely tuned with a mayonnaise emulsifier such as our Z Emulsifier, depending on the desired qualities.
Quadro's Emulsifying technology provides the end-user with mayonnaise processing equipment that achieves the desired results in a single pass and significantly shorter batch times.
If you have a particular issue that you are investigating, please don't hesitate to contact us. Phone inquiries can also be made +1-519-884-9660.
In nearly 20 years of delivering the most efficient mixing and processing solutions to our customers worldwide, Quadro Liquids technology has never allowed conventional thinking to get in the way. We continually develop innovative solutions that exceed expectations and break traditional assumptions about processing limitations.