Oil-in-water emulsion systems formulated with plant proteins are of increasing interest to food researchers and industry due to benefits associated with cost-effectiveness, sustainability and animal well-being. The aim of this study was to understand how the stability of complex model emulsions formulated using lentil proteins are influenced by calcium fortification (0 to 10 mM CaCl 2 ) and thermal processing (95 or 140 • C). A valve homogeniser, operating at first and second stage pressures of 15 and 3 MPa, was used to prepare emulsions. On heating at 140 • C, the heat coagulation time (pH 6.8) for the emulsions was successively reduced from 4.80 to 0.40 min with increasing CaCl 2 concentration from 0 to 10 mM, respectively. Correspondingly, the sample with the highest CaCl 2 addition level developed the highest viscosity during heating (95 • C × 30 s), reaching a final value of 163 mPa·s. This was attributed to calcium-mediated interactions of lentil proteins, as confirmed by the increase in the mean particle diameter (D[4,3]) to 36.5 µm for the sample with 6 mM CaCl 2 , compared to the unheated and heated control with D[4,3] values of 0.75 and 0.68 µm, respectively. This study demonstrated that the combination of calcium and heat promoted the aggregation of lentil proteins in concentrated emulsions.Foods 2020, 9, 453 2 of 14 coefficients of 7S and 11S, respectively. In contrast, the proteins in the albumin fraction have lower molecular weights (5-80 kDa) and are considered compact globular proteins [10].Oil-in-water emulsion systems formulated with plant proteins are of particular interest to the food industry as the market for plant-based milks, yogurts, spreads, cheeses and infant formula is growing [11]. Recently, there has been a major need to identify surface-active plant protein sources that can be used in food formulations for reasons of sustainability and in satisfying dietary requirements [12]. While soy is the most established source of plant protein, proteins from several legumes, such as those from lentils, are growing in interest [13]. The proteins from pulses have been shown to contain amphiphilic proteins that form relatively thick interfacial layers around oil droplets, thereby enhancing emulsion formation and stability [14]. In this regard, lentil proteins were shown to be very effective natural emulsifiers for oil-in-water emulsion systems, being very stable to environmental and compositional stresses such as heat, pH and added salts [15]. These authors associated the high stability of lentil proteins with their surface hydrophobicity and/or formation of thick viscoelastic films around oil droplets, as also suggested by Can Karaca et al. (2015) [14]. In another recent study by Gumus et al. (2017b) [16] it was demonstrated that lentil proteins could be successfully applied to formulate oil-in-water emulsions, with such systems being used for bioactive lipid delivery, with similar behaviour to whey protein under simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion systems. Moreover, Avramenko et al. ...