Corosolic acid as a dual-function stabilizer in W/O Pickering emulsions enhances its bioaccessibility and α-glucosidase inhibition

Corosolic acid (CA) is a potent α-glucosidase inhibitor, but its application is limited by poor aqueous solubility and low bioaccessibility. In this study, a CA-stabilized water-in-oil (W/O) Pickering emulsion was proposed as a self-assembled delivery strategy to overcome these limitations. The emulsion markedly improved the gastrointestinal performance of CA, leading to a substantially higher bioaccessibility (28.54%) compared with crystalline CA (6.48%). Enzyme kinetic analysis for CA emulsion showed an apparent non-competitive inhibition mode and enhanced α-glucosidase inhibition with a reduced K i and IC 50 . Molecular dynamics simulations supported stable binding interactions consistent with an allosteric inhibition mechanism. Overall, this work demonstrates that structuring CA into a W/O Pickering emulsion can simultaneously improve its bioaccessibility and inhibitory efficiency, providing a conceptual framework for enhancing the functionality of poorly soluble triterpenoids.