Influence of selected gums on the foaming properties of egg white powders: Kinetics of foam formation and baking performance

In this study, the influence of three selected gums including neutral locust bean gum (LBG), guar gum (GG), and anionic xanthan gum (XG) on the foaming and baking properties of egg white (EW) powders were investigated. Results showed that the surface tension, particle size, viscosity and interfacial adsorption modulus of reconstituted EW solutions prepared by EW powders increased with the addition of gums, along with the decrease of surface hydrophobicity, especially in the presence of the anionic XG. The kinetic analysis of foam formation showed that the addition of gums, especially for LBG and GG, were beneficial to the rapid infiltration of air in foam, thus dramatically reducing the whipping time in the preparation of cake batter. Furthermore, the angel cakes prepared by reconstituted EW solutions containing LBG or GG had higher specific volume than fresh EW. These results showed that the addition of neutral gums can improve the baking performance of EW powders by increasing the foaming rate and capacity. This study provided an insight on improving the foaming performance of EW powders by incorporating gums.