## 3 Results and Discussion
### Stability of ACM-Stabilized Soya Milk Emulsions
Figure 6: Changes in stability of ACM-stabilized 75 mL (_w/w_) soya milk emulsions (**a**) 1 g _w/w;_ (**b**) 3 g _w/w;_ (**c**) 5 g _w/w_ African catfish mucus. Changes in backscattering flux percentage (BS %) as a function of tube length of emulsion containing 50 mL (_w/w_) soya milk stabilized with (a) 1 g _w/w_ (b) 3 g _w/w_ (c) 5 g _w/w_ ACM after 180 min were investigated as depicted in Figure 3. Similarly, Figures 4-6 shows the changes in backscattering flux percentage (BS %) as a function of tube length of emulsion containing 30 mL, 10 mL and 75 mL (_w/w_) soya milk stabilized with (a) 1 g _w/w_ (b) 3 g _w/w_ (c) 5 g _w/w_ ACM after 180 min. Also Figure 7 was included to show Instability in homogenized soya milk and Milli Q Water for 10, 30, 50 and 75 mL (_w/w_) soya milk emulsions. Emulsion stability alludes to an emulsions' capacity to withstand changes in its physicochemical characteristics through time [60]. Due to all ACM-stabilized emulsions' turbid appearance through scans, an analysis of the distinct backscattering (BS) characteristics of ACM-stabilized soya milk emulsions as a function of tube magnitude were carried out to ascertain the stability of the system at room temperature (20 \({}^{\circ}\)C). The BS characteristics and matching particle size for each concentration are presented in Figure 3. The initial average BS flux percentage for ACM-stabilized soya milk emulsions was 41.39%, 43.75%, and 55.34% respectively for emulsions stabilized with 1, 3 and 5 g _w/w_ ACM concentrations. It was observed that the BS flux percentage of all emulsions investigated depended greatly on the concentration of ACM [21; 60]. The results of lower concentrations of soya milk were not reported because studies on hagfish slime stabilized soya milk showed that small quantities of hagfish slime was able to stabilize soya milk emulsions [2; 40]. Also, the results of higher concentrations of soya milk (75% mL) were not reported because according to [1] hagfish mucus entraps large volumes of water. Hence, this study only investigated the effect of ACM concentrations on 50 mL _w/w_ soya milk emulsions. Literature studies have established relationships between the BS flux % and particle size for soy stabilized emulsions [40]. Studies have shown that the BS flux % depicts the arrangement of molecules before it becomes unstable hence a high percentage in BS flux % infers a more stable structure [21]. In Figure 3 the tube length is plotted on the _x_-axis while the BS flux percentage is plotted on the _y_-axis. It shows that all three emulsions conformed to similar disintegration modes but, scans did not ideally align as slightly lower percentages in BS flux % were noted along the tube. The observed slightly lower percentages in BS flux % as emulsions disintegrate when particles aggregate could be because of kinetic instability. This observed phenomenon is consistent with reports by [81] who established that flocculation resulted in the disintegration of rice glutelin stabilized emulsions destabilized by flocculation [24]. In all the three ACM-stabilized soya milk emulsions, a peak was observed within the 0-20 mm range, followed by a stable phase within the 20-40 mm range, then a slight lowering within the 40-60 mm range and a final stage of rest within the 60-80 mm range. All the ACM-stabilized soya milk emulsions formed a cohesive network which suggests that the ACM stabilizes emulsions through a different entrapment interaction as described by [2]. for hagfish mucus stabilized soya milk emulsions. The results also suggest that the ACM has the potential to stabilize emulsions even with low concentrations and form a cohesive interactive network as described by [2]. The authors stated that little amounts of hagfish mucus were able to stabilize soya milk emulsions as a result of a different entrapment interaction called mucoadhesion [2]. The average initial BS flux % of 55.34% exhibited by the ACM-stabilized soya milk emulsions showed that higher concentrations of ACM could lead to better stability as suggested by [40].