Effect of lidocaine on ovalbumin and egg albumin foam stability.

Foam fractionation is a simple separation process that can remove and concentrate hydrophobic molecules such as proteins, surfactants, and organic wastes from an aqueous solution. Bovine serum albumin and ovalbumin have been widely used as model proteins due to their strong foaming potential and low price. Here, we study the effect of lidocaine on albumin foam, since drugs like lidocaine are known to bind with albumin. We observed that lidocaine not only enhances the amount of foam produced but also the stability of that foam as well. The foam stability was evaluated as the decay rate constant of the foam, determined from a change in height (or volume) of the foam over a given time period.