Addition of gelatin increased the spray drying performance of the Pickering emulsion stabilized by the ovalbumin – gum Arabic electrostatic complex

Gelatin was added to the perilla seed oil (PSO) Pickering emulsion stabilized by the ovalbumin (OVA) – gum Arabic (GA) electrostatic complex to increase its spray drying performance. The results indicated that the addition of gelatin to the primary PSO Pickering emulsion in mass ratio to the OVA – GA complex 1:1 before high-pressure homogenization could increase the total solid concentration of the feed to 20% and decrease the surface oil content of the resultant powder to 9.90% without compromising its total oil content (77.84%) and powder yield (76.08%) compared with that in the absence of gelatin. Characterization of the Pickering emulsions revealed that gelatin adsorbed to the surface of the primary emulsion droplets through electrostatic interaction and the subsequent high-pressure homogenization caused composition and structure rearrangement in the emulsion interface, leading to reduced particle size and viscosity of the secondary emulsion. The optimized PSO powder possessed excellent structural integrity according to scanning electron microscope observation as well as good flowability and water dispersibility. Hence, the addition of gelatin is an effective strategy to improve the economy for producing powders with ultra-high oil contents by spray drying Pickering emulsions stabilized by the OVA – GA electrostatic complex.