Impact of hydrophobically modified cellulose nanofiber on the stability of Pickering emulsion containing insect protein

Abstract BACKGROUND Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is an ideal Pickering emulsion stabilizer because of its high aspect ratio and flexibility. CNF was hydrophobically modified by dodecenyl succinic anhydride and used to stabilize the simulated food emulsion system containing insect protein. The prepared dodecenyl succinate nanofiber (D‐CNFs) was characterized by contact angle and laser particle size analyzer. The stability of the emulsion system under different conditions was characterized by zeta potential and appearance observation. Lastly, in vitro digestion simulation experiments were carried out to investigate whether the addition of D‐CNFs had an effect on the digestion and absorption of oil. RESULTS The modification process for dodecenyl succinic anhydride to CNFs was that the system temperature was 40 °C, the system pH value was 8.5 and the reaction time was 6 h. The water contact angle of the modified CNFs increased to 83.2 ± 0.9°. D‐CNFs were introduced into the simulated food emulsion system containing insect protein. The increase in the concentration of D‐CNFs in the aqueous phase promoted the stability of the simulated emulsion system. Increasing the ratio of insect protein was not conducive to the stability of the emulsion. The final fat digestibility of the emulsion with D‐CNFs was lower than that of the emulsion without D‐CNFs. CONCLUSION Overall, the analysis and characterization results show the potential of the modified CNF as a food simulant emulsion stabilizer containing insect protein, which can be used for the development of specific functional foods. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.