Preparation and characterization of canola oil-in-water Pickering emulsions stabilized by barley starch nanocrystals

Pickering emulsions (PE) have gained attention in food engineering applications. This study aimed to elaborate stable PE of canola oil by using barley starch nanocrystals (BSNC) as stabilizers which were prepared by acid hydrolysis of the starch and used in five nanocrystals to oil weight ratios (0.026, 0.038, 0.051, 0.076 and 0.102) to stabilize the emulsions. The size of the nanocrystals ranged between 43 and 396 nm and their average size was 141 nm. Emulsion droplet size decreased as the content of BSNC increased. It was observed by backscattering that the sedimentation of the droplets occurred slower in the systems having a higher amount of BSNC. All emulsions were stable to coalescence and creaming during storage and it was observed that, the most stable emulsions were those having nanocrystals to oil ratio of 0.24. Apparent viscosities of the emulsions increased with the content of nanocrystals. It was concluded that barley starch nanocrystals are suitable to produce and stabilize food-grade Pickering emulsions.