Preparation of Healthy Mayonnaise by Using Plant and Animal Gums as Oil Replacer

Mayonnaise is an appetizer common in Iraq, and the demand for it has increased in recent times with the trend of the societies towards fast food and prepared foods. Therefore, this study was conducted to reduce the number of calories in mayonnaise. The chitin was extracted from crab shells, where the acetyl groups were removed with an alkali treatment to prepare chitosan, tamarind gum was also extracted. The prepared hydrocolloids, represented by chitosan and tamarind gum at 3%, were used as a stabilizer, and fat replaces in the manufacture of reduced-fat mayonnaise (RFM) and light mayonnaise (LF) and was compared with full-fat mayonnaise (FFM). Thus, the quality of the prepared mayonnaise treatments was assessed by analyzing the chemical composition, and the caloric value. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties represented by (stability, heat stability, pH, and viscosity) were studied, and microscopy and sensory evaluation were performed. The results showed an increase in the moisture content of the mayonnaise treatments with a decrease in the percentage of fat, and that the caloric value of low-calorie mayonnaise decreased significantly in the treatments that had a lower fat percentage. Light mayonnaise LM1 (prepared with adding chitosan) and LM2 (prepared with the addition of tamarind gum seed) were observed to have a higher moisture content than FFM and generally, the moisture content increased with increasing the level of fat replacing. The caloric values of the treatments containing fat replacer were significantly decreased. Low-fat mayonnaise samples showed high stability. The highest stability values were obtained in the RFM1 (prepared by adding chitosan) and the lowest value of stability in the FFM. Slight significant differences were observed in the pH values between the treatments, and the pH value of FFM was less than the rest of the treatments. The optical microscope images in the samples of FFM showed that small droplets were efficiently packed between the larger ones, while in the RFM samples, larger size distributions and smaller droplets appeared. The treatment RFM1 obtained the highest mark for the sensory evaluation compared to the other treatments and the consistency values were affected by the viscosity of the mayonnaise treatments, as the higher viscosity value of the RFM1 treatment corresponded to the highest value of the consistency in the same treatment. It can be concluded from this research the possibility of using the chitosan and the tamarind gum as suitable replacers for the fat in preparing healthy, low-calorie mayonnaise, as they are healthy hydrocolloids, which are non-toxic, biodegradable, and easy to prepare steps, as they do not being caused an undesirable change in the specific properties of mayonnaise.