Abstract Application of Pickering emulsions in food systems is often limited by their compatibility and their effectiveness in delivering food actives. In this work, we developed a model Pickering emulsion hydrogel system using chitosan as the Pickering emulsifier and Ca-alginate hydrogel beads as the carrier. The synergistic effects between the two materials on the physicochemical stability of the hydrogel formed and the delivery of the immobilized emulsions were investigated. The Ca-alginate hydrogel was found to efficiently immobilize the chitosan-stabilized Pickering emulsions with an immobilization efficiency exceeding 99%, even at a high oil loading of 70% v/v and a chitosan concentration as low as 0.1% w/v. Both the adsorbed chitosan particles on the oil-water interfaces and excess non-adsorbed chitosan particles interacted electrostatically with the alginate matrices to enhance the hydrogel network strength. In comparison to the hydrogel beads containing Tween-80-stabilized emulsions and non-stabilized emulsion, the hydrogels containing Pickering emulsion were significantly more stable under high osmotic pressure and in the presence of low concentrations of destabilizing ions. In the in vitro studies, the Ca-alginate matrices prevented the release of the emulsions at pH 1.2. The emulsions were fully released at pH 7.4 and the release rate was found to be influenced by the concentration of chitosan particles. Interestingly, the chitosan particles remained adsorbed on the oil droplets upon release. This work demonstrates that the alginate-based chitosan-stabilized Pickering emulsion hydrogel system could be an effective immobilization and delivery system for food applications.

中文翻译：

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Pickering 乳液水凝胶作为一种有前景的食品输送系统：壳聚糖 Pickering 乳化剂和藻酸盐基质对水凝胶稳定性和乳液输送的协同作用

摘要 Pickering 乳液在食品系统中的应用通常受到其相容性和提供食品活性物质的有效性的限制。在这项工作中，我们开发了一种模型 Pickering 乳液水凝胶系统，使用壳聚糖作为 Pickering 乳化剂和 Ca-藻酸盐水凝胶珠作为载体。研究了两种材料之间对形成的水凝胶的物理化学稳定性和固定化乳液的递送的协同作用。发现藻酸钙水凝胶可以有效地固定壳聚糖稳定的 Pickering 乳液，固定效率超过 99%，即使在 70% v/v 的高载油量和低至 0.1% w/v 的壳聚糖浓度下也是如此。油水界面上吸附的壳聚糖颗粒和多余的未吸附的壳聚糖颗粒与藻酸盐基质发生静电相互作用以增强水凝胶网络强度。与含有 Tween-80 稳定乳液和非稳定乳液的水凝胶珠相比，含有 Pickering 乳液的水凝胶在高渗透压和低浓度不稳定离子的存在下明显更稳定。在体外研究中，海藻酸钙基质在 pH 1.2 时阻止了乳液的释放。乳液在 pH 值为 7.4 时完全释放，并且发现释放速率受壳聚糖颗粒浓度的影响。有趣的是，壳聚糖颗粒在释放后仍吸附在油滴上。