Pickering foams stabilized by protein-based particles: A review of characterization, stabilization, and application

An overview of edible foams in food and modern cuisine: Destabilization and stabilization mechanisms and applications

“…As is well known, changing the spatial structure of proteins by adjusting environmental factors (such as temperature, pH, and ionic strength) is one of the common methods to improve the diffusion, adsorption, and rearrangement behavior of protein molecules and enhance the foaming property. It is also a feasible method to combine proteins with LMWSs (such as saponins, lecithin [Venkataraman et al., 2021], and rhamnolipids [Li et al., 2023; Ruan et al., 2020], polyphenols [Chang et al., 2020; Zhan et al., 2020], probiotics [Han, Zhu, Karrar, et al., 2023], or polysaccharides [Yang et al., 2023]) to form binary or ternary complexes in order to improve the absorption rate and interfacial properties of complex emulsifiers for obtaining stable foams/emulsions. The combination of saponins and proteins is a classic example.…”

“…Meanwhile, using bioactive substances (polyphenols) or other substances (including phospholipids, small molecular emulsifiers, and probiotics) to form protein complex particles can further improve the interface and function properties of protein foams. Not only binary complexes but also more complex ternary complex particles (such as protein/polysaccharide/polyphenol or sodium caseinate/tannic acid/carboxymethyl cellulose) have been tried to forming Pickering particles (Han, Zhu, Karrar, et al., 2023; Herneke et al., 2023).…”

“…Although Pickering particles are obtained from different raw materials, and there are obvious differences in foamability and foam stability, the stabilization mechanism based on particles is similar (Figure 4D). There are two states of particles in Pickering foams, namely, “adsorbed particles” and “non‐adsorbed particles” (Dickinson, 2017; Han, Zhu, Karrar, et al., 2023). As previously mentioned, the term “adsorbed particles” refers to those particles that become irreversibly adsorbed at the gas–liquid interface, encapsulating the bubbles.…”

“…Particle size is one of the main factors affecting interfacial adsorption. So far, nanoscale biopolymer particles, such as cellulose/starch nanocrystals (Parajuli & Urena‐Benavides, 2022; Xiang, Bai, et al., 2019), protein nanofibers/particles (Han, Zhu, Karrar, et al., 2023), and nano‐microgels (Li et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2021), have been extensively studied to stabilize Pickering foams. Micron‐sized particle‐stabilized Pickering foams have also been reported (Lazidis et al., 2016; Qin et al., 2015), but the number is relatively small.…”

“…The macroscale life of foams is closely related to the micro‐scale properties of the gas–liquid interface. The gas–liquid interface has high surface free energy, and the primary reason for foam destabilization is the spontaneous lowering of free energy over time to reduce the interface area (Han, Zhu, Karrar, et al., 2023). Therefore, on the nanometer to micrometer scale, interface stabilizers are usually needed to reduce the interfacial tension, decrease the surface free energy of the system, and simultaneously form a surface film to improve the stability of foams (Hill & Eastoe, 2017).…”