LAUSR

Abstract In the present work, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCNa) was utilized to improve the emulsifying property of gliadin colloid particles (GCPs). We demonstrated the use of gliadin/CMCNa complex particles (GCCPs) as stabilizer to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions in a wide pH range (3.0–9.0) at a very low protein concentration (0.1%, w/v) which could be kept at room temperature for three months without oil-leakage. The effect of gliadin/CMCNa ratio, pH and ionic strength on emulsifying property of gliadin-based particles was investigated, and the stability of Pickering emulsions fabricated by GCCPs at a series of pH (3.0–9.0) to a four-week-long storage was evaluated. The optimized emulsifying property of particles was achieved at a gliadin/CMCNa ratio of 2:1, and Pickering emulsions stabilized by GCCPs at this ratio had a high tolerance for aqueous phase pH variation. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms were discussed by investigating the effect of gliadin/CMCNa ratio on wettability and adsorption behavior of particles at pH 4.0 and pH 7.0. Moderate wettability was achieved at the gliadin/CMCNa ratio of 1:1 at pH 4.0 and 2:1 at pH 7.0. The surface loading percentage of protein of Pickering emulsions increased from 70.28 ± 1.97% to 82.02 ± 6.20% and the surface protein loading (τ) decreased from 267.53 ± 5.31 mg/m2 to 149.17 ± 4.45 mg/m2 with the increase of CMCNa concentration, indicating the adsorption and emulsifying activity of particles could be enhanced by CMCNa addition.