a β - glucans rich powder extracted from oat bran and comprising dextrins beside β - glucans and containing 28 % β - glucans of average molecular weight at least 1 . 5 million daltons , was added to 195 g of sunflower oil in a 1 liter glass beaker . 25 g of the powder was mixed with mechanical stirring using a standard kitchen mixer at low speed , into the oil until a smooth , clump free dispersion was obtained ( approximately 30 seconds of mixing ). the β - glucans containing substrate is become wetted by the oil . 195 g of water , warmed to 40 ° c ., was added to the suspension with concomitant mixing using the same kitchen mixer . a rapid thickening and incorporation of the water into the oil mediated by the β - glucans component was observed . mixing was continued for a further 4 minutes , during which time the other ingredients were added : 20 g of egg yolk , 10 g of whole egg , 7 g of sugar , 5 g of salt , and 13 g of vinegar . the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and was stirred for a further 1 minute . a definite reduced fat ( 40 % total fat as opposed to 80 % for a conventional full fat product ) mayonnaise product resulted , with good mouth feel , flavor and body . the β - glucans component in this product functions as an emulsifier / emulsion stabilizer , texturant and hydrocolloid . 20 g of the same β - glucans rich powder as used in example 1 ( containing 28 % β - glucans of average molecular weight greater than 1 . 5 million daltons ) was added to 100 g of sunflower oil , in a 1 liter glass beaker , with stirring using a standard kitchen mixer . when the blend was smooth and free of clumps ( less than 2 minutes mixing time ), 315 g of water warmed to 35 ° c . was added to the suspension with concomitant mixing using the same kitchen mixer . a rapid thickening and incorporation of the water into the oil mediated by the β - glucans component was observed . mixing was continued for a further 4 minutes , during which time the other ingredients were added : 20 g of egg yolk , 10 g of whole egg , 7 g of sugar , 5 g of salt , 13 g of vinegar , and 8 g of milk protein isolate . the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and was stirred for a further 1 minute . after cooling in a refrigerator , the product was in all ways ( taste , mouth feel , texture , color etc ) representative of a dip or high quality dressing . with a total fat content of 20 %, the label reduced fat can be used comfortably with such a product . 2 g of the same β - glucans rich powder as used in example 1 ( containing 28 % β - glucans of average molecular weight greater than 1 . 5 million daltons ) was added to 50 g of sunflower oil , in a 1 liter glass beaker , with stirring using a standard kitchen mixer . when the blend was smooth and free of clumps ( less than 2 minutes mixing time ), 365 g of water warmed to 35 ° c . was added to the suspension with concomitant mixing using the same kitchen mixer . a rapid thickening and incorporation of the water into the oil mediated by the β - glucans component was observed . mixing was continued for a further 4 minutes , during which time the other ingredients were added : 20 g of egg yolk , 10 g of whole egg , 7 g of sugar , 5 g of salt , 13 g of vinegar , and 8 g of milk protein isolate . the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and was stirred for a further 1 minute . after cooling in a refrigerator , the product was in all ways ( taste , mouth feel , texture , color etc ) representative of a dip or high quality dressing . with a total fat content of 10 %, the label reduced fat can be used comfortably with such a product . 100 g of standard , low - salt , butter was placed in a 400 ml glass beaker and the butter was allowed to melt by placing the beaker in a water bath maintained at 40 ° c . when the butter had melted , 10 g of the same oat β - glucans rich preparation used in examples 1 and 2 above was added , with mixing , to the liquid butter . after two minutes of further mixing , the suspension was smooth and free of any clumps and at this point 100 g of water , warmed to 35 ° c ., was added to the mixture with fast stirring using a kitchen mixer . a further 1 . 5 g of salt was added during the stirring period ( 3 minutes ). within 2 minutes , the β - glucans component had thickened and concomitantly facilitated the incorporation of the melted butter into the water . the beaker was then transferred to an ice bath and stirring was continued using the same kitchen mixer until the mixture had reached a temperature of 5 ° c . the product was found to taste very like the parent butter , spread easily from the refrigerator and had structure and mouth feel consistent with good quality spreads , with a fat content of just 40 %. 100 g of a standard , margarine was placed in a 400 ml glass beaker was allowed to melt by placing the beaker in a water bath maintained at 40 ° c . when the margarine had melted , 10 g of the same oat β - glucans rich preparation used in examples 1 and 2 above was added , with mixing , to the liquid butter . after two minutes of further mixing , the suspension was smooth and free of any clumps and at this point 100 g of water , warmed to 35 ° c ., was added to the mixture with fast stirring using a kitchen mixer . a further 1 . 5 g of salt was added during the stirring period ( 3 minutes ). within 2 minutes , the β - glucans component had thickened and concomitantly facilitated the incorporation of the melted margarine into the water . the beaker was then transferred to an ice bath and stirring was continued using the same kitchen mixer until the mixture had reached a temperature of 5 ° c . the product was found to be very like the parent margarine , spread easily from the refrigerator and had structure and mouth feel consistent with good quality spreads , with a fat content of just 40 %. 120 g of a standard baking margarine was placed in a 400 ml glass beaker was allowed to melt by placing the beaker in a water bath maintained at 40 ° c . when the margarine had melted , 10 g of the same oat β - glucans rich preparation used in examples 1 and 2 above was added , with mixing , to the liquid butter . after two minutes of further mixing , the suspension was smooth and free of any clumps and at this point 80 g of water , warmed to 35 ° c ., was added to the mixture with fast stirring using a kitchen mixer . a further 1 . 5 g of salt was added during the stirring period ( 3 minutes ). within 2 minutes , the β - glucans component had thickened and concomitantly facilitated the incorporation of the melted margarine into the water . the beaker was then transferred to an ice bath and stirring was continued using the same kitchen mixer until the mixture had reached a temperature of 5 ° c . the product was found to very like the parent margarine , spread easily from the refrigerator and had structure and mouth feel consistent with good quality spreads , with a fat content of just 50 %. the product was utilized in two specific baking applications : a sweet “ danish ” pastry recipe and a standard short - crust pastry for a flan or quiche lorraine . in both cases , the new mix was used in place of the normal margarine . good products were obtained in both cases , with taste and mouth feel very similar to the normal full - fat pastries . 75 g of standard , low salt , butter was placed in a 400 ml glass beaker and the butter was allowed to melt by placing the beaker in a water bath maintained at 40 ° c . when the butter had melted , 25 g of cold - pressed rapeseed oil was added along with 1 g of the same oat β - glucans rich preparation used in examples 1 and 2 above , with mixing , to the liquid butter . after two minutes of further mixing , the suspension was smooth and free of any clumps and at this point 100 g of water , warmed to 35 ° c ., was added to the mixture with fast stirring using a kitchen mixer . a further 1 . 5 g of salt was added during the stirring period ( 3 minutes ). within 2 minutes , the β - glucans component had thickened and concomitantly facilitated the incorporation of the melted buffer into the water . the beaker was then transferred to an ice bath and stirring was continued using the same kitchen mixer until the mixture had reached a temperature of 5 ° c . the product was found to very like the parent butter , spread easily from the refrigerator and had structure and mouth feel consistent with good quality spreads , with a fat content of just 40 %. the rapeseed oil component is cold - pressed and is particularly rich in mono - unsaturated and poly - unsaturated fatty acids , and is essentially free of trans - fatty acids . extra virgin or extra virgin cold - pressed olive oil can readily substitute the cold - pressed rapeseed oil in such a healthy spread formulation . 10 g of the same oat β - glucans rich preparation used in examples 1 and 2 above was added , with mixing , to 95 g of rapeseed oil . the suspension was mixed until the powder component was evenly distributed in the oil ( 2 minutes mixing time ). 95 g of water , warmed to 40 ° c ., was then added with fast mixing to the suspension . a rapid thickening and incorporation of the water into the oil mediated by the β - glucans component was observed . the mixture was allowed to cool after a further 2 minutes of stirring and was found to be a stable dispersion / emulsion after 24 hours in the refrigerator . the mixture containing 45 % fat was then used in place of rapeseed oil in a number of baked products , including cakes ( swedish style “ sponge cake ” and muffins ), biscuits and pastries . in a sugar , or sponge , cake , the mixture was used in place of the standard rapeseed oil . a cake of excellent quality and texture was produced with minor adjustments to the cake recipe . equivalent satisfactory results were obtained in a muffin baking trial where the fat was replaced by the same mix . the process of the present invention was compared to the one described in ep - a - 1 361 264 , which shows the use of low molecular weight β - glucans preparations to provide emulsions of fats and oils . thus a number of tests were carried out using β - glucans preparations containing β - glucans having a molecular weight of 60 , 000 daltons . as evident from the tests according to comparative examples 9 - 11 stable emulsion were obtained when using high - shear mixing only . 100 g of sunflower oil was placed in a 400 ml glass beaker . 12 g of a β - glucans rich powder extracted from oat grain , containing 45 % β - glucans of average molecular weight of 60 , 000 daltons , was added to the oil with stirring until a smooth , clump - free dispersion was obtained . 100 g of warm ( 35 ° c .) water was added to the mixture with concomitant stirring using a kitchen mixer on a low - setting , for 5 min . a suspension was obtained , with no significant thickening and this suspension rapidly separated ( within 3 minutes ) on standing at room temperature . the same mixture was then high shear mixed using a silverson l4r mixer fitted with an emulsor screen for high sheer mixing , for 3 minutes . a thin , but stable emulsion resulted . no thickening effect was observed in this case . the same procedure as reported in example 9 was performed , except that the 12 g of powder containing 45 % β - glucans of average molecular weight 60 , 000 daltons , was mixed into 100 g of the sunflower oil at a temperature of 80 ° c . and the dispersion was held at this temperature for 2 hours prior to the addition of the water as described in example 9 . no differences in behaviour as compared to those observed in example 9 , were noted , and high sheer mixing was required to create an emulsion , as above . a milled oat bran product containing 9 . 2 % β - glucans ( analysis using the mccleary method , aacc standard method 32 - 23 , for mixed linkage β - glucans ), milled to a particle size of less than 250 microns , was used . 13 g of the powder was added to 100 g of sunflower oil and stirred with a low speed kitchen mixer to aid dispersion for 5 minutes . 100 g of lukewarm water ( 35 ° c .) was then added with continued low - speed stirring for a further 5 min . no notable thickening of the mix was observed and after standing for a further 3 minutes , the mixture had separated into an oil phase , a water phase and much of the powder had settled at the bottom of the beaker . the same mixture was then high shear mixed using a silverson l4r mixer fitted with an emulsor screen for high sheer mixing , for 3 minutes . an unstable dispersion resulted , which showed immediate signs of separation and the aqueous and oil phases were largely separated after 1 hour standing at room temperature .
the present invention relates to a process for preparing a stable emulsion / dispersion of an oil and an aqueous phase , wherein a β - glucans rich substrate , derived from oat or barley grain , is the active emulsifying component .