Panax Notoginseng polysaccharide stabilized gel-like Pickering emulsions: Stability and mechanism

In this work, the polysaccharide from Panax Notoginseng (SPNP), a traditional herb in China, was used as an outstanding Pickering stabilizer to fabricate Pickering emulsions. The SPNP was characterized to be a porous network structure with a rough surface surrounded by some nanoparticles. Rheological measurement of the obtained Pickering emulsions demonstrated the formation of emulsion gels. Moreover, the emulsions exhibited excellent storage (14 days), pH (1.0-11.0), ionic strength (0-500 mM), and temperature (4-50 degrees C) stabilities. In addition, the Pickering emulsions showed a freeze-thaw stability, which is beneficial in food, cosmetic or biomedical applications when they may require freezing for storage and melting before use. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) results showed that SPNPs effectively adsorbed at the oil-water interface by forming a compact three-dimensional (3D) network structure and multilayer anchoring on the surface of the emulsion droplets, thus inhibiting the droplet coalescence and flocculation. This study provides a kind of Pickering emulsions applicable in food, biomedical and cosmetic industries.

Automated summary

In this study, a polysaccharide from Panax Notoginseng (SPNP) was utilized as a Pickering stabilizer to create stable Pickering emulsions. The SPNP possessed a porous network structure with nanoparticles surrounding a rough surface. Through rheological measurements, it was determined that the Pickering emulsions formed gel-like structures. The emulsions displayed excellent stability in terms of storage, pH, ionic strength, temperature, and freeze-thaw cycles, making them applicable in various industries such as food, biomedical, and cosmetics.