Development of functional cheese sticks using konjac glucomannan: regulated pickering double emulsions under different heat treatments

In this paper, the structure, texture, thermal stability and controlled co-delivery characteristics of Pickering double emulsions (PDEs) regulated by konjac glucomannan (KGM) under different heat treatments were systematically studied. It showed heat treatments promoted the synergistic geation effect and transformed the system from the emulsion to the emulsion gel. The rheological results showed the increase temperature caused the loss factor first decreased and then increased and reached the minimum value at 70 °C. The texture test showed that after treatment at 70 °C, the hardness (0.79 N) and springiness (0.9 mm) of KGM-based PDEs were more similar to those of commercial cheese sticks. The gel matrix induced by heat treatments served as a physical barrier to improve the thermal stability of encapsulated EGCG and β-carotene in the KGM-based PDEs, and enhanced its gastrointestinal digestion stability by hindering lipid hydrolysis. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for developing functional plant-based gel foods.