20/10/2019

Food Systems - Part 1 - Get It Together Man & Food Systems - Part 2 – When Life Gives You
Lemons…Make Pie!

Submitted by: Kymberlee Jenkins

Submitted to: Wendy Smith

Lab Partners: Dan Luk, Jason Allman, Bruce Ricard

AGFS – 3131

Lab # 3-4
Objective: To prepare various types of emulsions and emulsifiers and examine the differences visually
and sensorially, as well as to prepare traditional and vegan lemon meringue pie to observe
emulsifications and other food systems.

Materials and Apparatus: “Refer to ‘Lab 3 Food Systems - Part 1 - Food Emulsions - Get It Together Man’
and ‘Lab 4 When Life Gives You Lemons…Make Pie!’. 2019. By Wendy Smith. pg 3 and pg 1. For AGFS -
3131”

Vegetable oil (31/07/21) #B192204 Microscope #00102477801

White vinegar (07/03/24) #B50718L2158 Top loading balance #CZ100Z
Powdered mustard #152594 Kitchen scale # J0A1002992
Eggs – Foodland ON Kitchen Aid mixer # 001029B00
Lecithin #90041797110
Whipping cream (01/10/19) #0776922
Pie shell (11/06/20) #62891508591
Soft Silken tofu (03/11/19) #065281111142
1/3 cup Lemon juice from lemons
Can of chickpeas (01/04/22) #68113186410

Method: “Refer to ‘Lab 3 Food Systems - Part 1 - Food Emulsions - Get It Together Man’ and ‘Lab 4
When Life Gives You Lemons…Make Pie!’. 2019. By Wendy Smith. pg 3-5 and pg 2-3. For AGFS - 3131”

Changes: Bake pie shell with filling for 20 mins at 350° F.

Results and observations:

Oil and vinegar:

Visual observations Microscope observations (100x)

15ml oil/15ml vinegar
20ml oil/10ml vinegar
10ml oil/20ml vinegar
Emulsification:
When shaken color mixes and Some medium bubbles
becomes cloudy and bright
yellow, then soon separates
with oil on top
Homogenous, opaque, cloudy Very glossy, many tiny bubbles
deep yellow
Opaque firstly, separates Few small bubbles, shiny
quickly, creamy and bright
yellow

Visual observations Microscope observations (100x)

Test tube #1 Light, creamy, homogenous, no White diamonds, refractive,
bubbles, cloudy mustard chunks
Test tube #2 Cloudy, heterogenous, bright Many white glossy bubbles
yellow, separates quickly
 Test tube #3 Very creamy, thick, Very homogenized, nothing
homogenous visable
Emulsification conversion:

Cream Whipped Cream Broken cream

Taste Sweet-1 Sweet-2 Sweet-1
Umami-2 Umami-2 Umami-4
Visual Homogenous, Peaks, fluffy, glossy, Cottage cheese-like
Adheres to sides of almost smooth
container
Microscope (100x) Completely white, air Many bubbles, streaks Some bubbles, watery,
bubbles with tinier or chains, tiny holes dark spots
bubbles within
Colour Pale beige, almost Bright white Yellow
white
texture Viscous, few bubbles, Light, oily, adhesive Clotted, mealy, greasy,
thick very watery
Vegan pie:

Process Outcome
Poking holes in the crust Allowing more air and heat flow
Baking the crust Over-baked, caramelized, dried
Blending tofu Creating homogenous texture
Adding sugar Adds sweetness and stickiness to build structure
Adding flour Absorbs liquid to help thicken
Adding cornstarch and baking curd mixture Cornstarch binds to liquid to thicken, heat
removes further moisture to thicken
Beating chickpea water Chains of proteins are broken and starches bind
to the new structures to form foam or peaks
Adding vinegar Strengthening the new structures
Mixing in sugar Sweetens, adds stickiness to structure for longer
hold
Chilling pie Setting the ‘meringue’ into a long-lasting shape

Flavours Vegan Non-vegan

Meringue Sweet 3 1
Sour 2
Bitter
Salty 1
Umami 1
Curd Sweet 2 3
Sour 3 1
Bitter 1
Salty 1
Umami
Discussion:

Emulsions:

The 10ml oil/20ml vinegar is an oil-in-water suspension meaning that the oil is dispersed in the vinegar,
however separates quickly because oils do not mix well with water and rise to the surface since they are
lighter. The 20ml oi/10ml vinegar is the opposite; a water-in-oil suspension.

Proteins and polysaccharides in the mustard seed act an emulsifier in a water/vinegar mixture by
breaking down and creating structure, resulting in the crystal structures seen under the microscope, and
by containing particles that have a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail that bind the water and oil
together.

The lecithin is a similar protein, that functions the same way as the proteins in mustard. Because lecithin
is a concentrated compound with those properties, it emulsified the mixture more strongly than the
other two emulsifiers.

The egg yolk partially emulsified the mixture because it contains naturally occurring lecithin, however it
required more in volume because it only contained some of the compound. If more was added to the
mixture it may have emulsified fully.

Cream is produced as a homogenous mixture by the heifer, containing natural emulsion stabilizers, and
therefore is stable enough to not separate. Whipped cream is a different colloidal food system known as
suspension, and consists of a dispersed phase of gas/air, suspended in the continuous water/cream
phase. The oil forms bubbles around the air, and stays trapped in the water. When the cream is whipped
further, those bubble break and the fat separates from the water, leaving behind butter and buttermilk.

Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie:

Blending the tofu is breaking down the structure of the food to create a homogenous texture.

Dissolving sugar to both the curd and the meringue creates a stabilizing solution with water and adds
stickiness to the other protein chains in the mixture helping them bond together to create new
structures[1].

The flour and the cornstarch (when heated), absorb water and act as a gel, and form semi rigid
structures around it to keep the mixture stable.

Beating the chickpea water creates a food foam because the proteins in in also consist of a hydrophilic
head and hydrophobic tail, however since there is no oil present, the hydrophobic tail binds itself to air
molucules, resulting in the air bubble that create the structure, or peaks. There are also starches present
that act as a gel to strength the structure[2]. Adding vinegar speeds up the binding process by
strengthening individual air bubles[3], and by slowing down the rate of deflation.
Resources:

[1] “What Are the Functions of Sugar”. Myers, Cynthia. Live Strong. 2019. Retrieved from:

< https://www.livestrong.com/article/260085-what-are-the-functions-of-sugar-in-meringue/>

[2] The Mysteries of Chickpea Water, a Magical Substitute”. Zhang, Sarah. Wired: Science. May 5, 2016.
Retrieved from:

< https://www.wired.com/2016/05/mysteries-chickpea-water-magical-substitute-eggs-no-
really/>

[3] “What is Cream of Tartar – And What Can I Substitute for It?”. Wise, Deb. Cooking Light. January 17,
2019. Retrieved from:

< https://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/substitute-for-cream-of-tartar>