Stability, rheological properties and microstructure of Pickering emulsions stabilized by different concentration of glidian/sodium caseinate nanoparticles using konjac glucomannan as structural regulator

In this paper, the effect of konjac glucomannan (KGM) on the physical stability, rheological properties, and microstructure of Pickering emulsions stabilized by gliadin/sodium caseinate nanoparticles (Gli/CAS NPs) with different concentration was investigated. When the Gli/CAS NPs concentration was constant, the increase of KGM content significantly improved the storage stability of the emulsion. For emulsion samples with 20% oil content, with the increase of KGM concentration from 0.1% to 0.6%, the D₃₂ value decreased from 7.57 ± 0.24 µm to 4.47 ± 0.10 µm. The CLSM and cryo-SEM observations showed that the particles adsorbed on the oil-water interface and formed a network structure. The structure was conducive to the stability of the emulsion. Irregular bulges on the surface of emulsion with higher KGM content could be observed. When the Gli/CAS NPs concentration was 4 wt%, the viscoelasticity of emulsion was improved and the G′ and G" value of the emulsion increases with the increase of KGM content. The study showed that KGM has the potential to regulate the stability and rheological properties of emulsions, which might provide an interesting perspective for various industrial applications of functional emulsions.