Mayonnaise is a thick mixture containing oil, vinegar (water-based), and eggs; the eggs contain a phospholipid molecule called lecithin. Mayonnaise cannot be made without lecithin. Explain why lecithin is a critical ingredient.

Question

Accepted Answer

Hi, everybody. Our next question says a skin cream has a formulation containing oil, water and soy lecithin. The cream cannot achieve the desired consistency without soy lecithin. Why is soy lecithin important in this formulation? So let's think about these components. We know that of course, oil and water will not stay mixed together, they will inevitably separate after mixing. So we know that the lecithin must be an emulsifier. So let's think about the chemical structure of less than well, lecithin is a phospholipid. It's one of the more common ones found in cell membranes. And of course, we know the defining characteristic of phospholipids is the fact that they have a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail. And of course, that's what makes them great components for cell membranes. But they also can act as emulsifier, keeping oil and water, hydrophilic substances and hydrophobic substances, nonpolar and polar substances mixed together in a consistent in this case cream and specifically Lecithin has of course, the glycerol backbone, two fatty acid chains and then an amino alcohol chain attached to the phosphate group, which in the case of letin is cline. So again, the reason that a lecithin would be important to keep a cream containing oil and water in a consistency needed to remain stable. Is that lecithin is a phospholipid and therefore can keep polar and nonpolar substances mixed together. See you in the next video.

Mayonnaise is a thick mixture containing oil, vinegar (water-based), and eggs; the eggs contain a phospholipid molecule called lecithin. Mayonnaise cannot be made without lecithin. Explain why lecithin is a critical ingredient.

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Emulsification

Lecithin

Stability of Emulsions