Food-grade Pickering emulsions stabilized by ovotransferrin fibrils

Abstract

The present work aimed to explore the feasibility of fabricating stable food-grade Pickering emulsions stabilized by ovotransferrin (OVT) fibrils. Raman imaging microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed that Pickering emulsion droplets stabilized by OVT fibrils were successfully prepared. Visual observation revealed that OVT fibril-stabilized Pickering emulsions at different fibril concentrations and oil fractions had high emulsified phase volume, and these Pickering emulsions had high stability index during 20-day storage at 20 °C. OVT fibrils could be employed to stabilize Pickering emulsions at broad ionic strengths (i.e., 0–1000 mM) and pHs (i.e., 2–7). Increasing either ionic strength or pH was helpful for the formation of emulsions with higher emulsified phase volume fraction, smaller emulsion droplets, and larger gel strength. In terms of thermal stability, OVT fibril-stabilized Pickering emulsions were stable during 10-day storage at 50 °C. The acquired knowledge in this study may provide new insight into fabrication of food-grade Pickering emulsions with excellent stability.