Enzymatic modification and adsorption of hydrophobic zein proteins on lactic acid bacteria stabilize Pickering emulsions

[Display omitted] •Modification of surface properties of LAB using a combination of enzymatic modification and adsorption of zein protein.•Evaluating of LAB surface properties using various tests like zeta potential measurement, morphology studies and adhesion assay.•Determination of the cultivability of bacteria before and after modifications using colony-forming unit (CFU) measurement.•Exploitation of the modified bacterial surface properties by producing Pickering stabilized oil in water emulsions. The effect of enzymatic and physical modifications of the surface of two different strains from lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG) and Lactobacillus delbruekii subs. lactis ATCC 4797 (LBD), to stabilize medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil based Pickering emulsions were investigated. A section of cell wall degrading enzymes, lysozyme from chicken egg white and human, lysostaphin, mutanolysin from Streptomyces globisporus and proteinase k and the hydrophobic protein zein were used for enzymatic and physical surface modifications. Cell surface modifications were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron cryo-microscopy (Cryo-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), microbial adhesion to hexadecane (MATH) test and zeta potential measurements. The modified cell hydrophobicity in terms of MATH values were increased (around four times) by the enzymatic and physical modifications for LBD and LGG compared to the control. Emulsions stabilized by modified bacterial cells showed higher stability in comparison with unmodified samples, especially for the samples modified with chicken egg lysozyme. Confocal microscopy revealed that the modified bacterial cells were absorbed at the interface between oil and water and preventing the oil particles from coalescence. Thus, modified bacterial cells can be used to formulate food-grade stable Pickering emulsions. Such Pickering emulsions can potentially be clean label alternatives to replace the conventional emulsion preparations.