impact of chitosan-capric acid nanogels incorporating thyme essential oil on stability of pomegranate seed oil-in-water pickering emulsion

The aim of this study was to obtain a stable pomegranate seed oil (pso)-in-water pickering emulsion stabilized by chitosan (cs)-capric acid (ca) nanogels incorporating thyme essential oil (teo). firstly, cs-ca nanogels were synthesized at different ratios of ca to cs (0.25:1, 0.5:1, and 0.75:1). scanning electron microscopy images showed that by increasing the ca to cs ratio, the uniformity of particles was increased. in the following, cs-ca nanogels were used to stabilize pso-in-water emulsions. the findings revealed that the most stable emulsion was obtained at ph 8, ca-to-cs ratio of 0.5:1, and an oil-to-nanogel ratio of 10:1. in addition, the interfacial structure of emulsion droplets indicated that the cs-ca nanogels contributed to the stability of emulsion through both the formation of an interface layer and a network on the surface of dispersed droplets. finally, the oxidative stability and microstructure of the emulsions stabilized by cs-ca nanogels incorporating teo (0.1%) were evaluated. the results showed that teo increased the oxidative stability of the emulsion and reduced the emulsion droplet size.