LAUSR

Abstract The propensity of edible fiber to structure aqueous suspensions can be tuned also by modifying the process adopted to disperse it in water. In this paper a rotor-stator homogenizer and a high pressure microfluidizer are used to produce fiber aqueous suspensions with increasing fiber content, investigating the effects of process conditions on rheological properties and particles-size distribution of these materials. An isoenergy criterion was chosen to vary the power supplied by the rotor-stator device to suspensions, and, on the other hand, two operating pressures were used to produce a second set of suspensions via microfluidization. The obtained results highlighted the greater propensity of microfluidizer to disrupt particles, stabilizing the final system by varying mainly the network extension. Finally, a fractal model was adopted to predict the rheological behavior of suspensions as a function of fiber content.