Highly stable Pickering emulsions stabilized by gelatin–pectin complexes: Interfacial architecture, rheological behavior, and curcumin loading and protection

At 9000 s, G i ′ increased by approximately six orders of magnitude relative to C1. • The 0.5% pectin emulsion showed a dense interfacial layer and a 3D network. • At 0.5% pectin, the emulsified phase volume fraction remained at 100% over 180 d. • C1–P0.5 resisted freeze–thaw, thermal, pH, and salt stresses. • Curcumin loading efficiency peaked at 0.3% pectin, while retention peaked at 0.5%. Designing highly stable Pickering emulsions with common biopolymers and expanding their applications to the effective loading of lipophilic bioactives remain formidable challenges. In this study, we successfully fabricated a series of Pickering emulsions stabilized by gelatin–pectin complexes containing gelatin (1.0%, w/w) and pectin (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%, w/w). Pectin incorporation significantly reduced the mean droplet size and increased the zeta-potential magnitude, with C1–P0.5 reaching < 6 μm and > 35 mV, respectively. Interfacial and bulk rheological measurements, together with cryo-SEM and LF-NMR, indicated that pectin incorporation strengthened both the interfacial layer and the continuous-phase structure, forming a multiscale reinforcing architecture. This architecture comprised a dense, viscoelastic interfacial layer and an interconnected 3D honeycomb-like scaffold, which collectively provided robust electrosteric stabilization and geometric confinement. Consequently, the high-pectin group (C1–P0.5) achieved high stability across a broad range of environmental stressors, including 180-day room temperature storage, freeze–thaw cycles, thermal treatment (60–100 °C), and wide fluctuations in pH and ionic strength (NaCl/MgCl 2 ). Furthermore, the C1–P0.3 formulation achieved a curcumin loading efficiency of > 95%, and pectin incorporation enhanced curcumin retention under UV exposure and thermal treatment. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for using simple biocomposites to develop highly stable Pickering systems for the loading and protection of sensitive lipophilic bioactives.