Pickering emulsions stabilized by pea protein isolate-chitosan nanoparticles: fabrication, characterization and delivery EPA for digestion in vitro and in vivo

The work aimed to prepare pea protein isolate-chitosan (PPI-CS) nanoparticles, fabricate PPI-CS nanoparticles stabilized Pickering emulsions (PPI-CS Pickering emulsions) and deliver EPA for digestion in vitro and in vivo. The nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and PPI-CS Pickering emulsions were characterized by physicochemical and rheological properties. The results showed that the size of PPI-CS nanoparticles was 194.22 ± 0.45 nm. Rheological measurement showed that the PPI-CS Pickering emulsions possessed a gel-like network. EPA encapsulated Pickering emulsions (EPA-PE, φ = 0.6) exhibited a high retention rate (93%) during storage and performed a lower release rate compared with EPA-PE (φ = 0.4) in vitro digestion. The area under the curve of EPA concentration of EPA-PE group and EPA-emulsions (EPA-Em) group was 1.71 and 1.48, respectively. It demonstrated that PPI-CS Pickering emulsions provided the possibility to deliver EPA for digestive absorption.