Inhibition of oil digestion in Pickering emulsions stabilized by oxidized cellulose nanofibrils for low-calorie food design

Abstract

Celluloses are renewable and biodegradable natural resources. The application of celluloses as oil-in-water Pickering emulsifiers is still quite limited. In this paper, cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) with oxidation degrees (DOs) of 52.8% and 92.7% (DO50 and DO90) were obtained from TEMPO-mediate oxidation for microcrystalline cellulose (MC). The production of carboxyl groups of CNFs were confirmed by FT-IR and ¹³C solid-NMR. CNF-stabilized O/W Pickering emulsion showed excellent colloidal stability compared with un-oxidized cellulose by Turbiscan stability analysis. Additionally, CNF-stabilized Pickering emulsions showed stable colloidal properties in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). Most importantly, in vitro fatty acid release kinetics under SIF showed that CNFs have strong inhibitory lipid digestion behavior. Our results suggest that the oxidation modification not only improves their emulsification activity but also promotes their application in oil digestion inhibition, providing inspiration for designing and developing low-calorie food products.