Physicochemical stability of Pickering emulsion stabilized with spherical and fibrous iron ions loaded whey protein isolate/gum Arabic complexes.

Iron deficiency is widespread worldwide and shows significant impact on human health. The direct iron supplementation produced little effect because of the physicochemical properties and gastrointestinal stimulation of iron ions, and thus the biomolecules loaded iron delivery systems developed rapidly. Pickering emulsions (PEs) could be stabilized by colloidal particles and provide potentials for delivery of various bioactives effectively and simultaneously. Here, the feasibility of PEs stabilized with Fe³⁺ loaded colloid granules for iron delivery was explored. The binary WPI-GA_Fe3+ (whey protein isolate/containing Fe³⁺ gum arabic) complexes with spherical (WGS) or fibrous (WGF) morphology were constructed by adjusting the reaction conditions of protein aggregation. Compared to GA_Fe3+, WGS and WGF exhibited better interfacial activity in terms of the lower interfacial tension and the competitive interfacial adsorption with the pre-adsorbed T-80 and sodium caseinate, and favorable physical stability on PEs, as well as the significant retardation of...