ارزیابی خصوصیات امولسیفایری صمغ چرخک (Launaea acanthodes)

Charkhak (Launaea acanthodes) is one of the most common species of medical herbs in central Iran. In this study, the gum was extracted by alcoholic extraction method with 90% ethanol that the yield percentage was 40.4%. Then, emulsifying properties of the extracted gum were investigated. To do so, soybean oil emulsions (10% w/w) were prepared using 1, 2, 4, and 6% gum. Following tests were done for all emulsions: surface and interfacial tension, stability testing, particle size distribution, observing by light microscope and viscosity of the emulsion. Altogether, it was illustrated that polysaccharide efficiency of Launaea acanthodes gum is higher than other national gums in Iran. According to the results, increasing the gum concentration in emulsion led to decrease in surface and interfacial tension but an increase in viscosity. The particle size distribution reduced with increasing the concentration of gum in emulsion. Moreover, the gum had good overall stability in the past two months.