Pickering Emulsions Stabilization Using Starch-Based Materials

Pickering emulsions are stabilised by solid particles that adsorb at oil–water interfaces, creating a robust steric barrier around dispersed droplets. Starch, a naturally abundant polysaccharide, offers a sustainable route to such particles owing to its granular morphology, biocompatibility and ease of chemical modification. Native starch granules exhibit limited amphiphilicity, but their surface can be tailored through esterification reactions—most commonly using octenyl succinic anhydride—to introduce hydrophobic moieties and adjust wettability. The interplay of granule size, crystallinity, particle shape and degree of substitution dictates emulsion droplet size, rheological behaviour and long-term stability against coalescence or creaming. Optimised starch-based particles can maintain uniform droplet distributions for months, enabling applications in food technology for clean-label emulsions, in pharmaceuticals for controlled release carriers, in cosmetics for stable suspensions and in material science for oleogel formation. Research has further demonstrated the encapsulation of sensitive bioactives and the design of viscoelastic networks, highlighting the global drive toward renewable, functional ingredients that marry nutritional value with industrial performance.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Research from all publishers

Emulsion-templated oleogelation has been achieved using octenyl succinic anhydride-modified granular cold-water swelling starch, which acts both as a Pickering stabiliser and as a scaffold for oleogel networks. Variations in starch botanical source and degree of substitution controlled droplet dimensions and the interfacial contact angle, yielding oleogels with tailored stiffness, thermal resilience and viscoelastic profiles suitable for fat-replacement in food systems.

Comparative studies of octenyl succinic anhydride-modified starches from rice, tapioca and oat demonstrated that higher degrees of substitution markedly enhance emulsifying performance. Increased modification levels improved particle wettability and interfacial packing density, producing oil-in-water emulsions with reduced droplet size and elevated emulsion indices. Among the botanical origins tested, starches with optimal granule size distributions delivered superior long-term stability.

Functional delivery systems have been developed by employing acid-hydrolysed high-amylose starch modified with octenyl succinic anhydride to encapsulate bioactive flavonoids. By tuning the degree of substitution and surface charge, researchers achieved enhanced retention, high encapsulation efficiency and controlled release profiles under simulated digestion, thereby improving bioaccessibility for nutraceutical applications.

Pickering Emulsions Stabilization Using Starch-Based Materials publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pickering emulsions stabilization using starch-based materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Pickering emulsion: An emulsion stabilised by solid particles adsorbed at the interface between two immiscible liquids, providing a steric barrier to droplet coalescence.

Octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA): A hydrophobic modification reagent that esterifies starch hydroxyl groups, imparting amphiphilic character and enhancing interfacial activity.

Degree of substitution (DS): The average number of hydroxyl groups on each starch monomer unit that have been chemically replaced by substituent groups such as OSA.

Contact angle: The angle at which a starch particle meets the oil–water interface, reflecting its balance of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity.

References

1. Emulsion-based oleogelation using octenyl succinic anhydride modified granular cold-water swelling starch. Food Hydrocolloids (2023).
2. Preparation and Physico-Chemical Characterization of OSA-Modified Starches from Different Botanical Origins and Study on the Properties of Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by These Starches. Polymers (2023).
3. Enhanced Bioaccessibility of Microencapsulated Puerarin Delivered by Pickering Emulsions Stabilized with OSA-Modified Hydrolyzed Pueraria montana Starch: In Vitro Release, Storage Stability, and Physicochemical Properties. Foods (2022).