LAUSR

Chia mucilage (CM) is an emerging resource in food applications. However, the mechanism of this biopolymer as a stabilizer/emulsifier ingredient is not yet well defined. A non-uniform viscoelastic tridimensional network was observed on emulsions with CM, while the surface activity of the CM ingredient had been associated with its protein content. To understand its functionality in food, this review focused on discussing and summarizing the rheological properties of dispersions and emulsions composed of CM on different conditions, such as pH, temperature, and, salt and mucilage content. For example, emulsions and dispersions with CM showed pseudoplastic behavior. The increase of CM concentration increased viscosity and the consistency index and, decreased behavior index. The consistency index of dispersions with CM increased with pH. The future evaluation of emulsions and dispersions properties, such as viscoelastic properties and microstructure, are particularly important for the good use of CM in the food industry. The major studies evaluated the use of CM in dairy and meat systems as an emulsifier, stabilizer, or lipid replacer. The nutritional quality of the products with CM was maintained or improved, but sometimes an undesirable darkening was observed. The future evaluation of the cold extraction method of CM can improve the color and overall sensorial acceptability of food products with CM. Moreover, an integrated process of chia seed, including mucilage, oil, and protein extractions could be carried out in order to make viable chia seed industrial processing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.