Protein/Polysaccharide Electrostatic Complexes and Their Applications in Stabilizing Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Consumers are becoming increasingly fastidious in demanding food products with improved quality and functionality. This largely relies on rational design of food structures. As the two key food ingredients, protein and polysaccharides play important roles in food structuring. The combination of protein and polysaccharide provides rich opportunities for food structure and function designs through molecular interaction and assembly. This paper provides a brief review on the formation and characterization of protein/polysaccharide electrostatic complexes and their applications in stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions, particularly those containing polyunsaturated fatty acids.