Stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions with regenerated chitin nanofibers

Ying Zhang; Zhigang Chen; Wenyang Bian; Li Feng; Zongwei Wu; Peng Wang; Xiaoxiong Zeng; Tao Wu

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.03.030

Stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions with regenerated chitin nanofibers

Food Chem. 2015 Sep 15:183:115-21. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.03.030. Epub 2015 Mar 17.

Authors

Ying Zhang¹, Zhigang Chen¹, Wenyang Bian², Li Feng², Zongwei Wu³, Peng Wang², Xiaoxiong Zeng², Tao Wu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Glycomics and Glycan Bioengineering Research Center (GGBRC), College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China.
² College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China.
³ College of Life Science and Technology, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang 453003, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Glycomics and Glycan Bioengineering Research Center (GGBRC), College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: twu@njau.edu.cn.

PMID: 25863618
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.03.030

Abstract

Natural chitin is a highly crystalline biopolymer with poor aqueous solubility. Thus direct application of chitin is rather limited unless chemical modifications are made to improve its solubility in aqueous media. Through a simple dissolution and regeneration process, we have successfully prepared chitin nanofibers with diameters around 50nm, which form a stable suspension at concentrations higher than 0.50% and a self-supporting gel at concentrations higher than 1.00%. Additionally, these nanofibers can stabilize oil-in-water emulsions with oil fraction more than 0.50 at chitin usage level of 0.01g/g oil. The droplet sizes of the resulting emulsions decrease with increasing chitin concentrations and decreasing oil fraction. Confocal laser scanning micrographs demonstrate the adsorption of chitin nanofibers on the emulsion droplet surface, which indicates the emulsion stabilization is through a Pickering mechanism. Our findings allow the direct application of chitin in the food industry without chemical modifications.

Keywords: Emulsion stabilization; Nanofibers; Pickering mechanism; Regenerated chitin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Chitin / chemistry*
Emulsions / chemistry*
Nanofibers / analysis*
Solubility
Water / chemistry*

Substances

Emulsions
Water
Chitin