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Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) extracted from renewable resources possess many attractive characteristics, making them ideal Pickering emulsion stabilizers. However, unmodified pristine CNCs with high surface charge density are not effective in stabilizing oil–water emulsions, thereby limiting their application as interfacial stabilizers. Grafting hydrophobic polymers onto CNCs enhanced their wettability by the oil phase, which reduced the interfacial tension. Thus, hydrophobic modification was performed by grafting cinnamoyl chloride or butyryl chloride to the surface of CNFs. The modified CNFs were further hydrolyzed for 1 or 2 h to produce nanocellulose of varying sizes and hydrophobicity, and they were effective Pickering emulsifiers. The effect of nanocellulose concentration, polarity of solvents, hydrophobicity, size and electrolyte on the characteristics of the Pickering emulsions were examined and elucidated. Graphic abstract

The food industry is one of the major users of emulsion technology, as many food products exist in an emulsified form, including many dressings, sauces, spreads, dips, creams, and beverages. Recently, there has been an interest in improving the healthiness, sustainability, and safety of foods in an attempt to address some of the negative effects associated with the modern food supply, such as rising chronic diseases, environmental damage, and food safety concerns. Advanced emulsion technologies can be used to address many of these concerns. In this review article, recent studies on the development and utilization of these advanced technologies are critically assessed, including nanoemulsions, high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs), Pickering emulsions, multilayer emulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), multiple emulsions, and emulgels. A brief description of each type of emulsion is given, then their formation and properties are described, and finally their potential applications in the food industry are presented. Special emphasis is given to the utilization of these advanced technologies for the delivery of bioactive compounds.

Although traditional meat products are highly popular with consumers, the high levels of unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol present significant health concerns. However, simply using plant oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids to replace animal fat in meat products causes a decline in product quality, such as lower levels of juiciness and hardness. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a fat substitute that can ensure the sensory quality of the product while reducing its fat content. Consequently, using emulsion gels to produce structured oils or introducing functional ingredients has attracted substantial attention for replacing the fat in meat products. This paper delineated emulsion gels into protein, polysaccharide, and protein–polysaccharide compound according to the matrix. The preparation methods and the application of the three emulsion gels as fat substitutes in meat products were reviewed. Since it displayed a unique separation structure, the double emulsion was highly suitable for encapsulating bioactive substances, such as functional oils, flavor components, and functional factors, while it also exhibited significant potential for developing low-fat or functional healthy meat products. This paper summarized the studies involving the utilization of double emulsion and gelled double emulsion as fat replacement agents to provide a theoretical basis for related research and new insight into the development of low-fat meat products.

According a wide range of relevant literature, the emulsion liquid membrane technique (ELM) is considered an efficient method to separate and recover organic and inorganic contaminants that could otherwise be released into the environment. One important limitation of ELM process concerns the stabilization and de-stabilization of emulsion globules. To address this, over the last few years, a new ELM trend known as the Pickering emulsion liquid membrane (PELM) has been developed. PELM involves nanoparticle concepts to achieve a more stable emulsion for wastewater treatment. In this article, ELM and PELM techniques, preparation methods, characteristics, stabilization methods (i.e., mechanical and ultrasound emulsification), and de-stabilization (i.e., swelling, leakage and coalescence ) of the emulsion are reviewed and described. In addition, various parameters that could impact ELM stability, extraction, and recovery, such as emulsification speed and time, surfactant, carrier, internal agent, diluent, stirring speed, internal to membrane ratio, type of organic membrane, and treatment ratio, are also presented and discussed.

The effect of Nano‐emulsion (NE) and Macro‐emulsion (ME) of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) on the properties of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)‐based films was investigated. MEs (diameters of 242–362 nm) and NEs (diameters of 59–80 nm) of CEO were produced through Ultra‐Turrax and Ultrasonication, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed different morphologies in the films containing ME and NE, also a denser and more uniform microstructure was observed in the NE films in comparison with the ME ones. The higher stability of NE in the CMC matrix, increased the thickness of the resulted films. The water vapor permeability (WVP) was increased from 2.59 × 10–9 g/ms Pa in the control film to 4.43 × 10–9 g/m s Pa in the ME film, and decreased to 1.80 × 10–9 g/ms Pa in the NE film. Adding CEO led to more flexible films with enhanced strain at break (SAB) from 53.56% in the control film to 80% and 94.77% in the ME and NE films, respectively. The antifungal indices against A. niger and M. racemous were 14.16% and 20.82% in the ME films, and were improved to 18.81% and 25% in the NE ones. The effects of Nano‐emulsion (NE) and Macro‐emulsion (ME) of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) on the properties of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) based films were investigated. Adding CEO led to more flexible films with enhanced strain at break (SAB) from 53.56% in the control film to 80% and 94.77% in the ME and NE films, respectively. The antifungal index against A. niger and M. racemous were 14.16% and 20.82% in the ME films and were improved to 18.81% and 25% in the NE ones.

The cover illustration shows the machine learning‐based optimization and interpretation of radiation‐induced graft polymerizations under emulsion conditions based on realistic information for monomers calculated by the state‐of‐the‐art semiempirical method. Cover design by Kiho Matsubara. More information can be found in the Research Article by Kei Takahashi, Ryohei Kakuchi, and co‐workers.

ABSTRACT Much research has been done over the past years on self-emulsifying drug delivery systems, their main interest being the simplicity of the formulation processes, the great stability of the systems and their high potential in pharmaceutical applications and industrial scaling-up. Self-emulsifying drug delivery systems are generally described in the literature indiscriminately as either nano-emulsions or micro-emulsions. Although this misconception appears to be common, these two systems are fundamentally different, based on very different physical and physicochemical concepts. Their differences result in very different stability behaviors, which can have significant consequences regarding their applications and administration as nanomedicines. This paper aims at clarifying the problem, first by reviewing all the physical and physicochemical fundamentals regarding these two systems, using a quantitative thermodynamic approach for micro-emulsions. Following these clarifications, we show how the confusion between nano-emulsions and micro-emulsions appears in the literature and how most of the micro-emulsion systems referred to are actually nano-emulsion systems. Finally, we illustrate how to clear up this misconception using simple experiments. Since this confusion is well established in the literature, such clarifications seem necessary in order to improve the understanding of research in this important field.

The improvement of food-grade emulsifiers in the properties and stability of complex emulsion has attracted much interest. In this study, the effects of six food-grade emulsifiers with a hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) range of 3.4–8.0 on a casein-maltodextrin-soybean oil compound emulsion were investigated by centrifugal precipitation rate (CPR), emulsifying activity index (EAI), microrheological properties, zeta potential, average particle size, and Turbiscan stability index (TSI). The optimal amounts of added succinylated monoglyceride (SMG) and polyglycerol fatty acid ester were 0.0025% and 0.1% (w/w), respectively, while that of the other four emulsifiers was 0.2% (w/w), according to the CPR. Thereinto, the SMG-stabilized emulsion exhibited the highest emulsifying activity and the lowest viscosity value and possessed the highest stability over 14 days of storage, which was indicated by the lowest TSI value and the smallest change in delta backscattering signal, relative to those of the other groups. Moreover, the emulsion stabilized by SMG displayed better emulsion stability than the control under a range of pH (6.0–8.0) and calcium ion concentrations (0–10 mM), which was attributed to the increased zeta potential value and the decreased average particle size of droplets with the addition of SMG. The present study provides a basic understanding for SMG improving the properties and stability of the complex emulsion.

Pickering emulsion, which is an emulsion stabilized by solid particles, offers a wide range of potential applications because it generally provides a more stable system than surfactant-stabilized emulsion. Among various solid stabilizers, nanocellulose may open up new opportunities for future Pickering emulsions owing to its unique nanosizes, amphiphilicity, and other favorable properties (e.g. chemical stability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and renewability). In this review, the preparation and properties of nanocellulose-stabilized Pickering emulsions are summarized. We also provide future perspectives on their applications, such as drug delivery, food, and composite materials.

A major challenge in vaccine formulations is the stimulation of both the humoral and cellular immune response for well-defined antigens with high efficacy and safety. Adjuvant research has focused on developing particulate carriers to model the sizes, shapes and compositions of microbes or diseased cells, but not antigen fluidity and pliability. Here, we develop Pickering emulsions--that is, particle-stabilized emulsions that retain the force-dependent deformability and lateral mobility of presented antigens while displaying high biosafety and antigen-loading capabilities. Compared with solid particles and conventional surfactant-stabilized emulsions, the optimized Pickering emulsions enhance the recruitment, antigen uptake and activation of antigen-presenting cells, potently stimulating both humoral and cellular adaptive responses, and thus increasing the survival of mice upon lethal challenge. The pliability and lateral mobility of antigen-loaded Pickering emulsions may provide a facile, effective, safe and broadly applicable strategy to enhance adaptive immunity against infections and diseases.