Fabrication and characterization of Pickering emulsion stabilized by soy protein isolate-chitosan nanoparticles

Abstract This work aimed to investigate the feasibility of fabricating food-grade Pickering emulsions stabilized by soy protein isolate-chitosan (SPI-CS) nanoparticles. The SPI-CS nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and particle size analyzer. Pickering emulsion stabilized by SPI-CS nanoparticles were characterized by confocal laser scanning microscopy and optical microscopy. The results showed that the average size of SPI-CS nanoparticles was 148.52 ± 1.95 nm. The droplet sizes of Pickering emulsions at different nanoparticle concentrations and oil fractions were 11.80 ± 2.20∼43.68 ± 4.12 µm. SPI-CS nanoparticles stabilized Pickering emulsions at different nanoparticle concentrations and oil fractions had low creaming index, and these Pickering emulsions were stable at 4 °C for 20 days. These SPI-CS Pickering emulsions were stable at broad ionic strengths (0∼1000 mM) and temperature (4∼60 °C). These findings may provide new insight into the development of food-grade Pickering emulsions suitable for the formulation of functional foods.