Construction and Properties of Aqueous Two-Phase Emulsion Gels Based on Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. Polysaccharide and Gelatin

Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. polysaccharide (ASKP) is a novel plant polysaccharide. In this study, an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of gelatin (Gel) as the dispersed phase and ASKP 60P (a high-molecular-mass fraction of ASKP) as the continuous phase was constructed based on the thermodynamic incompatibility between 60P and Gel at a specific pH, and Gel/60P ATPS emulsion gels were obtained by introducing Fe³⁺ into the ATPS in order to induce 60P cross-linking. The results showed that the ATPS, consisting of 0.1%–0.5% Gel and 0.5%–1.5% 60P (m/m), exhibited discrete phase separation. The emulsion gel with 0.6% Gel, 1.5% 60P and 60 mmol/L Fe³⁺ showed good gel strength and elasticity. This was attributed to the fact that the increase in Gel concentration led to a decrease in the volume proportion of the continuous phase, resulting in exposure of more Fe³⁺ crosslinking sites, enhancing the interaction between 60P and Fe³⁺, and improving the mechanical properties of emulsion gels. Therefore, this study proposes a new strategy to improve the properties of ASKP gels, which is favorable for the wide application of ASKP in the food, biological and other fields.