Question

What property must emulsifiers have that fats lack?

Answer 1

As we know emulsifiers are substances that stabilize the mixture of two non-mixing (non-miscible) liquids like that of oil (fats) and water.

So, emulsifiers must have those properties which fats lack so as to keep them in mixture with water. These properties are-

Polarity- Water is polar so for a substance to mix with water it must be polar. Emulsifier which work as bridge between water and fat has a polar end (that keeps in contact with water molecules) and a non-polar end (that keeps in contact with fat molecules).

Hydrophilic property - Fats are hydrophobic, which means they appear to avoid water and instead form large globules when mixed with a water-based liquid. So, emulsifiers must have hydrophilic properties to keep fat and water in suspension.

Surface tension reducer properties - One of the reasons why fat and water don't mix is the surface tension at fat/water interface which keeps water molecules bound to water molecules only and fats molecules bound to fat molecules only. Therefore, emulsifier which is added as the stabilizing agent has surface tension reducing properties that lets fat and water molecules to come in contact with each other and this results in stabilization of the mixture.

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