What is the importance of egg yolk in mayonnaise and margarine?

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Egg yolk serves as the primary emulsifying agent in mayonnaise, crucial for achieving the desired thick consistency. Omitting egg yolk entirely results in a vinaigrette, while reducing it by 50% still allows for emulsification but compromises stability and ease of preparation. In margarine production, glyceryl monostearate (GMS) is preferred over egg yolk due to its optimal performance at pH levels between 5 and 9, whereas mayonnaise's pH, influenced by vinegar, typically falls around 3, making egg yolk unsuitable as an emulsifier in this context.

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CuriousSam
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What is the role of egg yolk in mayonniase?
What happens to the emulsion when the egg yolk was reduced by 50% or omitted? Explain why?



Egg yolk is the emulsifying agent. Without it mayonnaise is basically a vinaigrette. If you omit egg yolk entirely your mayonnaise will not emulsify (thicken), if you reduce it by half, it will still work, but may not be as stable, or as easy to make.

There an intriguing question bugging me.
Why can't we use use egg yolk instead of GMS( glyceryl monostearate) in margarine.
I mean GMS is artificial emulsifier so it much be the same as egg yolk ? or egg yolk cannot
, too oily ??
 
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Glyceryl monostearate is an emulsifier that works best at pH's between 5 and 9. I believe that the vinegar would lower the pH below the operative range for GMS. The pH of vinegar is around 3 in mayonnaise, I believe.
 

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