What are the functions of emulsifier in soft drinks?

The function of an emulsifier is to enable, and maintain, a uniform dispersion of oil droplets within the aqueous phase.

The small size of the droplets (1-2 um) means that the system tends to instability since the potential energy increases with total interfacial energy, which is the driving force of coalescence.

Emulsifiers are used to minimize the total interfacial energy and act by adsorbing at the oil-water interface in an oriented manner.

Concentrated emulsions are used to impart both cloud (neutral emulsion) and flavor (flavored emulsion) characteristics to the drink and are usually formulated to be used at a rate of about 0.1%.

The beverage emulsions diluted several hundred to several thousand times to provide flavor, color and a cloudy appearance for the beverage. A beverage emulsion must be stable in both the concentrate and diluted forms.

Brominated Vegetable Oil is an example of emulsifier and clouding agent used in soft drinks. It keeps flavor in oils in suspension and gives a cloudy appearance to citrus-flavored soft drinks.
What are the functions of emulsifier in soft drinks?

Sodium lauryl sulfate as food additive

Functional use of sodium lauryl sulfate in foods including surface tension control agent, thickener, wetting agent, whipping agent, hog/poultry scald agent, and emulsifier.

Sodium lauryl sulfate found in many personal acre products such as soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. It is inexpensive and very effective foamer. These aids are capable of giving the product whipping properties that are comparable to or even better than, then natural untreated product.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is a mixture of sodium alkyl sulfates, primarily sodium lauryl sulfate, containing not more than a total of 8% of sedum sulfate and sodium chloride. Formaldehyde may be included as a preservative in concentration of up to 0.1%.

It occurs as small, white or light yellow crystals having a slight, characteristics odor.
Sodium lauryl sulfate as food additive

Gum ghatti from the sap of Anogeissus trees

Gum ghatti, otherwise known as the Indian gum, is an exudate of the Anogeissus Latifolia tree belonging to the family Combretaceae.

It is used applications also served by gum arabic. Gum ghatti originally developed around 1900 as a substitute for gum arabic.  It has a bland taste and practically no odor, only about 90% of the gum disperses in water and this portion forms a colloidal dispersion.

Ghatti is often used in pharmaceutical preparations as an emulsifying agent. The emulsification performance of gum ghatti is greatly influenced by the presence of insoluble components.

In United States, ghatti is used in the preparation of stable, powdered oil- soluble vitamins.

Another used for gum ghatti is to stabilize table syrup emulsions containing about 2% butter. In such an application, about 0.4% ghatti is used in combination with 0.08% lecithin.

Gum ghatti has excellent emulsifying properties and the high viscosity produced by the gum in solution makes it a superior stabilizer for the denser pharmaceutical emulsions and suspensions.
Gum ghatti from the sap of Anogeissus trees

Tragacanth as food additive

Tragacanth is a dried exudation obtained from stems and branches of the shrub Astragalus gummifier. Tragacanth gets its name from the Greek words ‘tragos’ and ‘akantha’ – provably because the dried plant sap is curved or twisted.

The exudate is allowed to dry on the shrub before collection and is produced in two forms – ribbons and flakes. After collection, the gum is graded and milled to a powder. Tragacanth is used in food as emulsifier, preservative and thickener.

Tragacanth is permitted generally in foodstuffs except those where additives are not permitted.

It is used in baked goods, citrus beverages, condiments, fats, fruit filings, gravies, meat products, oils, relishes, salad dressing, milk powder stabilizers, cheese and sauces.

Tragacanth is a complex branched of polysaccharide consisting of two main fractions. The major fraction is not soluble but swells in water to form a gel.

The second fraction is water soluble and tragacanth contains small amount of protein which may be involved in its emulsifying properties.
Tragacanth as food additive

Texturing agent

Texturing agent
Texturing agents are used to add or modify the overall texture or mouthfeel of food products. Emulsifiers and stabilizers are the primary additive in this category. Phosphates and dough conditioners are other chemicals that play a major role in modifying food texture. Phosphates are some of the most widely used and serve a number of functions in foods.

Emulsifiers include natural substances such as lecithin and mono- and diglycerides as well as several synthetic derivatives. The primary role of these agents is to allow flavors and oils to be dispersed throughout food products.

Stabilizers include several natural gums such as carrageenan as well as natural and modified starches. These additives have been used for several years to provide the desired texture in products such as ice-cream and are now also finding use in both dry and liquid products. They also are used to prevent evaporation and deterioration of volatile flavor oils.

Phosphates are often used to modify the texture of foods containing protein or starch. These chemicals are especially useful in stabilizing various dairy and meat products. The phosphates apparently react with protein and/or starch and modify the water-holding capacity of these natural food components.
Texturing agent