Wheat Bran Proteins as a Functional Ingredient in Plant‐Based Mayonnaise

ABSTRACT Mayonnaise is an oil‐in‐water emulsion and traditionally contains egg yolk as an emulsifier. The growing trend of veganism and vegetarianism has instilled the need to replace egg yolk with plant‐based protein to formulate mayonnaise analogues. The current study was focused on substituting egg yolk with Osborne fractionated wheat bran proteins (albumin, globulin, and glutelin). The pH, stability, color, and rheological properties of the prepared vegan emulsion were studied and compared with traditional mayonnaise containing egg yolk (control). The pH and emulsion stability of albumin mayonnaise were comparable to the control, indicating its effectiveness as an emulsifying agent. A significant difference was observed in the color measurements of L*, a*, and b* values for vegan mayonnaise, resulting in a brownish formulation. The rheological results showed pseudo‐plastic, thixotropic behavior, and the data were well described by the Herschel–Bulkley model. Mayonnaise formulated with albumin presented a higher yield stress ( τ 0 ) than globulin and control mayonnaise. The flow index ( n ) of all three samples exhibited shear‐thinning, non‐Newtonian ( n < 1) fluid behavior. Overall, the results demonstrate that the functional performance of mayonnaise is strongly influenced by the protein fraction used. This study highlights the potential application of wheat bran protein fractions in plant‐based mayonnaise as a viable and sustainable alternative to traditional egg‐based mayonnaise.