Laser-induced volume changes during confocal Raman microscopy of whey-protein-stabilized emulsions and their relationship to protein content and particle diameters

The use of confocal Raman microscopy is applied to the study of whey-protein-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. The stability of emulsions is an important parameter for many applications and is dependent on several factors including protein content and particle size. Emulsions were prepared with varying particle size ranging from 0.8 to 10.0 mu m. Changes in sample volume due to laser-induced heating were monitored and correlated to protein content in samples and to particle diameters. It was found that samples with the lowest protein content and larger particle diameters experienced the largest volume changes. The newly developed approach is of a potential predictive use. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.