Synergistic stabilization of oil in water emulsion with chitin particles and tannic acid

•CP (chitin particles) and TA(tannic acid) interacted intensely in solution.•There was synergistic effect for CP and TA in stabilizing oil in water emulsion.•CP-TA (3/5) complex stabilized emulsion had the best physical and oxidative stability.•CP-TA (3/5) complex had the lowest interfacial tension and zeta potential.•CP-TA (3/5) complex had the highest viscosity. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of CP and TA on stability of oil in water emulsion stabilized by the two components, so as to fabricate the most efficient chitin based emulsifying agents. It was found that there was synergistic effect for CP and TA in stabilizing emulsion, specifically, the complex of chitin particles (CP) (3 g/L) with tannic acid (TA) (2 g/L) produced the most physically and oxidatively stable oil-in-water emulsion compared with other groups in this study. This is because CP-TA (3/5) complex had the lowest zeta potential, the lowest the oil water interfacial tension, the highest viscosity and the highest content of TA with excellent antioxidant activity. Furthermore, this is because there was intense interaction between CP and TA in CP-TA complex from results of FTIR, XRD and ITC, which then result in the formation of large CP-TA particles.