Ovalbumin as an Outstanding Pickering Nanostabilizer for High Internal Phase Emulsions

There is still a debate about the effectiveness of native globular proteins to perform as Pickering-like stabilizers for oil-in-water high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). In the work, we report one native globular protein (ovalbumin) with strong structural integrity and high refolding ability, exhibits an outstanding Pickering stabilization for HIPEs. Ultrastable gel-like HIPEs can be formed through a facile one-pot homogenization even at a concentration as low as 0.2 wt %. The HIPEs formed in the protein-poor regime are a kind of self-supporting and remoldable hydrogel consisting of bridging droplets. The formed HIPEs also exhibit other unique characteristics, such as extraordinary coalescence stability (against prolonged storage or heating), susceptibility to freeze-thawing, enhanced oxidation stability (to encapsulated bioactives), and inhibited vaporization of volatile oils. The findings would be of importance for extending the HIPEs to be applied in food, cosmetic, and petroleum industries.