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Pectin is a potential polysaccharide-based emulsifier, but the stabilized emulsions suffer from insufficient emulsion stability. Therefore, modification is needed to enhance its emulsification performance to cater to practical applications. The genipin-crosslinking strategy was used in this work to modify pectin with different sources and extraction conditions. Chemical composition analysis, molecular weight (Mw), and radius of gyration (Rg) measurement revealed that sugar beet pectin (SBP) has a more compact and flexible conformation than commercial citrus pectin (CP) and apple pectin (AP), indicated by the significantly (p < 0.05) larger Mw/Rg of SBP (18.1–11.3 kg/mol/nm) than CP (8.3 kg/mol/nm) and AP (8.0 kg/mol/nm). Crosslinking modification significantly increased the Mw, radius of gyration, and viscosity. This significantly (p < 0.05) improved the emulsifying stability (a smaller increase in droplets size) by the contribution of both thicker adsorbed hydrated layers at the oil-water interface with a stronger steric-hindrance effect and larger viscosity effect to slow down droplet collision. The formation of a blue-black substance from crosslinking reaction was able to block the UV radiation, which significantly improved the photostability of β-carotene-loaded emulsions. Altogether, genipin-crosslinking is feasible to modify pectin of different sources to enhance the emulsion stability and for use as a vehicle for delivering bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we demonstrated the use of aminated sugar beet pectin (SBP–NH 2)–tannic acid (TA) nanoparticles (NPs) conjugated with cinnamaldehyde (CA) to form 3D printable high-internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). Unlike the absorption of common stabilizers, the interfacial conjugation of SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs with CA formed ultra-absorbed NPs at the oil–water interface through electrostatic bonding, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and Schiff base reaction. The addition of CA (2.5 wt%) to the oil phase significantly reduced the mean droplet size of SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs stabilized HIPE (75 vol% oil; SBP-NH 2 /TA mass ratios of 1:0.5) from 23.03 to 18.33 μm and greatly improved the stability of HIPEs during a 90-day storage period at 25 °C. Concomitantly, rheological studies indicate that HIPEs with CA had high viscoelasticity up to 3 orders of magnitude, providing HIPE-based inks with exceptional support performance and smooth extrusion features. In particular, TA and CA act as the components of a stabilizer and adsorb onto the oil–water interface, imparting combined antioxidant and antimicrobial dual capabilities to HIPEs. In the SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs stabilized HIPEs, the addition of CA resulted in 0.34-fold lower amounts of primary and secondary lipid oxidation products and 0.4–0.5-fold higher antimicrobial properties against either E. coli or S. aureus. This work established that the interfacial conjugation of the SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs with CA advanced the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, stability, water-holding capacity, and viscoelastic properties of HIPEs. Furthermore, the three-dimensional (3D) printed structure with notable mechanical strength was achieved. [Display omitted] • Aminated sugar beet pectin (SBP–NH 2) reacted with cinnamaldehyde (CA) interfacially. • CA-modified SBP-NH 2 /tannic acid (TA) nanoparticles (NPs) showed superior activity. • CA-modified SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs stabilized high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). • HIPEs stabilized by SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs with CA showed outstanding oxidative stability. • HIPEs stabilized by SBP-NH 2 /TA NPs with CA had a notable antimicrobial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol-soluble polysaccharide (ESP) is a highly ethanol-soluble (85% v/v) fraction from the precipitation process of sugar beet pectin and holds the potential to be utilized for food purposes. This study aimed to explore ESP as a coating polymer to stabilize zein nanoparticles against agglomeration via co-dissolving ESP and zein in an ethanol/water mixture (85% v/v) and subsequently dispersing into the water to form composite nanoparticles. Structural analyses showed that the ESP contained 28.3 wt% galacturonic acid, 45.7 wt% neutral sugar, and 17.6 wt% protein, and that its average molecular weight was 93,157 Da. In this study, we fabricated ESP-coated zein (zein-ESP) nanoparticles with a diameter of around 248 nm using the antisolvent co-precipitation method. These zein-ESP nanoparticles were stable over a wide pH range of 2.0–8.0 when the ESP:zein mass ratio was higher than 0.6:1. Additionally, the nanoparticles exhibited good stability in environmental stresses such as sodium ion concentrations of 400 mM and high temperatures of 90 °C (for 120 min). The encapsulation efficiency of Cur improved significantly, from 68.5% with the zein nanoparticles to 88.7% with the zein-ESP nanoparticles. When encapsulated by zein-ESP nanoparticles, Cur presented as an amorphous form and was released in a sustained and controlled manner after exposure to simulated gastrointestinal fluids, resulting in enhanced solubility and in vitro bioaccessibility, as compared with the free Cur. Altogether, ESP has great potential to stabilize zein nanoparticles-based delivery systems for hydrophobic bioactive compounds with enhanced water solubility and encapsulation efficiency for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries. [Display omitted] • Small-sized polysaccharides (ESP) from sugar beet pulp were isolated and analyzed. • Composite ESP-zein nanoparticles (NPs) were formed via antisolvent precipitation. • ESP and zein well-solubilized in an 85% ethanol solution before nanonization. • ESP surface-decorated and stabilized zein NPs against environmental stress. • ESP-zein NPs are potential delivery vehicles with improved encapsulation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to enhance the emulsifying properties of sugar beet pectin (SBP) by adopting a crosslinking strategy that covalently bridged the amino groups (–NH 2) of lysine residues of the proteinaceous moiety using genipin (GP) as the crosslinker. Compared to control-SBP (C-SBP), GP crosslinked SBP (G-SBP) was larger in molecular weight (from 3.04 × 105 g/mol to 1.31 × 106 g/mol) and mean radius of gyration (from 34.8 nm to 39.2 nm), and showed a more compact conformation, as supported by analysis of high-performance size exclusion chromatography coupled with multiple angle light scattering (SEC-MALLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). G-SBP was featured by a new absorbance peak at ~595 nm, resulting in a distinct blue color of the aqueous solution. G-SBP suffered a slight decrease in interfacial properties and emulsifying activities in comparison to C-SBP, leading to a lower specific surface area and a larger volume-weighted mean diameter (d 4,3) for the fresh emulsion. Nevertheless, the G-SBP stabilized emulsion was more stable than the C-SBP stabilized emulsion during storage for 21 d with d 4,3 increasing from 0.541 μm and 0.425 μm to 0.625 μm and 1.66 μm for G-SBP and C-SBP, respectively. The improved emulsifying stability of G-SBP can be ascribed to the combination of the following two aspects: 1) G-SBP exerted a lager viscosity-enhancing effect to slow down droplet collision and flocculation; 2) the carbohydrate moiety of G-SBP formed a dense and compact hydrated layer providing strong steric stabilization for the oil droplets to resist flocculation and coalescence. Altogether, this work demonstrates that GP is a favorable agent to crosslink the side chains of SBP and modify its emulsification performance. Image 1 • Primary amine groups of lysine of SBP are target sites for crosslinking by genipin. • SBP was covalently crosslinked by genipin to show novel macromolecular properties. • Emulsion-stabilizing effects of SBP were enhanced by crosslinking with genipin. • Genipin crosslinked SBP provided steric stabilization against emulsion breakdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different sugar beet pectin (SBP) components on the conjugates formed between SBP and whey protein isolate (WPI) under the condition of 80 °C, 79% relative humidity, for 5 h were investigated in this study. SBP samples with different chemical compositions were SBP1 (without any treatment), SBP2 (modified with polygalacturonase), SBP3 (modified with arabinanase/galactanase combination), and SBP4 (control pectin sample). The covalent binding of SBP to WPI was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Degree of glycosylation (DG) and fluorescence intensity of conjugate samples decreased in the order: WPI-SBP1 > WPI-SBP2 > WPI-SBP4 > WPI-SBP3. The interfacial tension of the WPI decreased significantly after conjugating with SBP1 or SBP2. The interfacial tension of conjugates increased in the order: WPI-SBP1 < WPI-SBP2 < WPI-SBP4 ≈ WPI-SBP3. Emulsifying properties of the WPI were improved significantly after covalent modification with SBP. For the conjugate samples, the higher DG corresponded to the better emulsifying properties. All the results reveal that the neutral sugars region of SBP is easier to occur conjugate reaction with WPI compared to the galacturonic acid region of SBP, and the DG is an important factor influencing the emulsifying properties of the conjugate sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response surface methodology was used to optimise experimental conditions for ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) of functional components from sugar beet molasses . The central composite design (CCD) was used for the optimisation of extraction parameters in terms of total phenolic contents, antioxidant activities and anthocyanins. Result suggested the optimal conditions obtained by RSM for UAE from sugar beet molasses were as follows: HCl concentration 1.55–1.72 mol/L, ethanol concentration 57–63% (v/v), extraction temperature 41–48 °C, and extraction time 66–73 min. In the optimal conditions, the experimental total phenolic contents were 17.36 mg GAE/100 mL, antioxidant activity was 16.66 mg TE/g, and total anthocyanins were 31.81 mg/100 g of the sugar beet molasses extract, which were well matched the predicted values. Teen compounds, i.e. gallic acid, vanillin, hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, catechin, delphinidin-3-O-rutinoside, delphinidin-3-O-glucuronide and ferulic acid were determined by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS in sugar beet molasses . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar beet pectin (SBP) was modified by alkaline at both 25 °C and 3 °C to produce gel-type pectins. The structure, rheological and gelation properties of series modified SBPs were then assessed. The results showed that low temperature effectively inhibited the β-elimination of SBP during alkali treatment, and the average molecular weight (M w) and galacturonic acid (GalA) content of the resulting SBP were much higher than that of the alkali-treated SBP at 25 °C. Due to the low degree of methylation (DM) (≦ 21.2) and degree of acetylation (DA) (≦ 14.6), SBP treated under pH 11 and 12 at 3 °C could successfully form stable elastic gels, and these gels were further confirmed to be frequency-independent through rheological analysis. The SEM and TG/DTG results showed that the corresponding gel of SBP treated under pH 12 at 3 °C for 120 min had the most uniform micro-network structure and the best thermal stability. This work for the first time demonstrated the effect of a wide pH range on the chemical structure, rheological and physical gelation properties of SBP, especially under alkaline conditions at a low temperature (3 °C). Findings from this work suggest that alkali treatment at low-temperature allows SBP to have the potential to become a gel-type commercial pectin. Image 1 • Alkali treatment at 3 °C markedly reduced the DM and DA of SBP. • β-elimination of SBP treated with alkali at 3 °C was suppressed to a certain extent. • SBP gels were elastic and frequency-independent. • Gel formation changed the crystallinity and thermal stability of SBP molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food-grade polysaccharide-protein based nanoparticles receive considerable interest in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as Pickering emulsion stabilizer to satisfy the need of safety and emulsifying functionality. Here, we reported a type of novel sugar beet pectin-bovine serum albumin conjugate nanoparticles (S-BNPs) with a mean size of ~180 nm that were fabricated by the genipin-crosslinking strategy followed by facile ultrasonication. The as-prepared S-BNPs mainly consisted of 35.2% polysaccharide and 58.4% protein, showing a core-shell nanostructure with SBP chains surrounding the inner protein core, as unveiled by analyses of atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. S-BNPs had excellent colloidal stability under various pH (4.0–12.0) and ionic strength (μ , 0–500 mM) conditions. When used at a concentration (c) of 0.5 wt%, S-BNPs well stabilized Pickering emulsions (from creamed to gel-liked high internal phase emulsions/HIPEs) with different droplet characteristics and visual appearances with a maximum oil volume fraction (Ф) up to 0.84. At a lower c of 0.25 wt%, S-BNPs stabilized Pickering emulsions with a maximum Ф up to 0.70. Rheology measurements indicated that a higher c strengthened the stiffness of HIPEs (Ф = 0.80), thereby endowing the gel-like HIPEs with a self-supporting appearance. Owing to its unique nanostructure, S-BNPs displayed desirable emulsification properties at a wide range of pH (5.0–12.0) and μ (0–500 mM), whereas the two control samples, Crosslinked-BSA and SBP-BSA-Complex (electrostatically bound at pH 4.5), showed inferior emulsification properties in long-term storage, pH, and μ testings. In the repetitive freeze/thaw-induced demulsification cycles, a representative S-BNPs stabilized HIPE was re-emulsified 5 times. Altogether, this work demonstrates that the genipin-crosslinking is feasible to synthesize S-BNPs as an edible Pickering emulsion stabilizer for food and relating industries. Image 1 • Sugar beet pectin (SBP) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were crosslinked by genipin. • Insoluble crosslinked SBP-BSA was ultrasonicated into well-dispersed nanoparticles. • SBP provided steric stabilization to the protein core by forming a hydrated shell. • As prepared SBP-BSA nanoparticles rendered Pickering emulsions stable at pH 5.0–12.0. • The prepared Pickering emulsions endured ionic strengths of 0–500 mM NaCl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this study, we examine how the extractant type used and extraction steps effect the structural and emulsifying properties of the resulting sugar beet pectins (SBPs). Using ammonium oxalate and sulfuric acid as the extractants, two oxalate-extracted pectins (denoted OEP1 and OEP2) and four acid-solubilized pectins (denoted AEP1, AEP2, AEP3 and AEP4) were sequentially extracted and characterized regarding their structures and emulsifying properties. All six pectins shared common features such as having a high galacturonic acid content and a low methylation degree, however, OEP1 and OEP2 not only had lower amounts of ferulic acid (FA) and protein but their molecular sizes were also smaller in comparison to the remainder. Moreover, the oxalate-extracted sample series was significantly different from the acid-extracted sample series in regards to amino acid compositions. Due probably to the hydrophobicity of the proteinaceous components and the lower contents of FA and protein, OEP1 failed to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions containing 15% middle chain triglyceride (MCT). In contrast, AEP1-4 were shown to have better emulsifying activities, producing fine emulsions under favorable conditions (e.g. pectin concentration 1.5%). The d 43 values of the emulsions prepared at a 1.5% concentration of AEP2, AEP3, or AEP4 did not markedly change throughout the period of storage (28 days) at 30 °C, whereas the AEP1 emulsion was relatively less stable. The correlation between emulsifying properties and the structures among the acid-extracted pectins highlights that the extraction sequence plays an important role in the resulting compositional and emulsifying properties of SBP. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Six different pectic fractions were sequentially extracted from sugar beet pulp. • The two pectin series differed in protein content and molecular weight. • Pectins extracted by acid had better emulsifying capacities than those by oxalate. • The later period of acid extraction resulted in desirable emulsifying properties. • The nanostructures of resulting pectins were investigated using AFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full two-level factorial experiment design was employed to investigate the effects of temperature (75 and 85 °C), time (2 and 3 h) and initial pH(1.5 and 2.0) on the molecular composition of sugar beet pectin extracted by citric acid. And the high temperature resistant pH electrode was used to monitor the pH variation during pectin extraction. The results showed that the pH of pectin extraction solution was not constant during pectin extraction, and the pH of extraction solution fluctuated more widely at 85 °C than at 75 °C. In the experiment design, the initial pH was the most significant factor on pectin composition such as arabinose, total neutral sugars, and degree of acetylation, while the temperature became the most important factor for yield, galacturonic acid, rhamnose, galactose, and weight-average molar mass. The degree of methoxylation was significantly affected by extraction time. It was observed that the emulsifying properties of the extracted pectin samples were significantly affected by the extraction conditions. All the results revealed that 1.) the pH value of extraction solution is directly related to the yield and the degradation of the extracted pectin during sugar beet pectin extraction, 2.) the extraction temperature could significantly affect the pH fluctuation of extraction liquid, 3.) the most significant effect factor for a given pectin composition is dominated by the pH fluctuation of the extracting liquid and acid stability of this discussional pectin composition, 4.) beet pectin extracted by citric acid is an effective emulsifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar beet molasses contains natural components which can significantly inhibit the growth of food-borne pathogens, however, its antimicrobial mechanism has not yet well understood. In the present study, the antibacterial mechanism of sugar beet molasses polyphenols on S. aureus , L. monocytogenes , E. coli and S. typhimurium investigated by SDS-PAGE, SEM and TEM analysis. The sugar beet molasses polyphenols showed bacteriostatic activity against the growth of four food-borne pathogens. Meanwhile, sugar beet molasses polyphenols resulted in leakage of proteins of the four food-borne pathogens cells. Results of SDS-PAGE, SEM and TEM suggested that the antibacterial mechanism may be due to the damaged cytoplasmic membrane and bacterial proteins by sugar beet molasses polyphenols, and the sugar beet molasses polyphenols might change bacterial cells physiology and morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethanol precipitation of sugar beet pectins (SBPs) with and without counter ions was investigated. In aqueous solution, when cations bind to SBPs, the negative charges on the pectin chains are reduced and the hydrodynamic radius (R h ) of the whole polymer is decreased. Cation-bound SBP is more prone to precipitation by ethanol because it is less solvated by water molecules. In the absence of cations, partially-ionized SBP interacts extensively with water molecules at the initial precipitation pH (I-pH) range of 3.26–2.83, which makes it difficult to precipitate the pectins by addition of ethanol. However, in the presence of cations, precipitation of SBPs is straightforward due to cation binding and ethanol dehydration. Protonated SBPs and SBP salts were prepared and their conformational features were analyzed by 13 C solid-state NMR and X-ray diffraction spectroscopies. The results show that no conformational transition occurs in cation-bound SBP after ethanol precipitation, which indicates that the electrostatic nature of the cation–SBP interaction is important during the precipitation process. A schematic illustration of the cation–SBP electrostatic interaction during the precipitation process is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stepwise ethanol-precipitation (SEP) procedure was developed for the purification of sugar beet pectins (SBP) from a pectin-containing aqueous extract. Five fractions of different chemical and molecular characteristics were produced by stepwise elevating the alcohol concentration of the precipitation medium from 50% to 80% v/v. Comparison of chemical and macromolecular features between the obtained fractions indirectly suggested that the ability of pectin to solubilize in the ethanol-water binary mixture depended greatly on the polymer structure. Fractions rich in neutral sugars were precipitated at relatively high ethanol concentrations, probably due to the enhanced interactions generated between pectin side chains and solvent molecules. Furthermore, the obtained fractions displayed different surface activities. Results obtained in this work indicate that the SEP procedure is more selective with respect to pectin structural features and surface properties than the one-step ethanolic precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar beet pectins (SBP) were precipitated from a purified extract in a 75% v/v ethanol solution at an initial extract pH (I-pH) ranging from 2.0 to 4.5. The effects of I-pH on pectin yield and pectin-cation interactions were studied. No simple correlation between pectin yield and I-pH was observed. The lowest pectin yield was obtained by precipitating the acidic pectin extract with ethanol at I-pH 4.5. Pectin yield increased to a maximum value as I-pH decreased from 4.5 to 3.0. These results indicated that decreased electrostatic repulsion between pectin chain segments enhanced pectin chain–chain interactions, thereby improving the precipitation effect. A decrease in pectin yield was observed as I-pH decreased below 3.0. The cation content of various samples was measured by high-performance cation-exchange chromatography in order to determine the content of SBP-bound cations during precipitation. Cation content and degree of cation binding were measured for pectins precipitated at I-pH 3.0, 2.5, and 2.0, and the results revealed that a decrease in pectin yield accompanied a decrease in cation–pectin interactions. These results suggest that the precipitation of SBP from an aqueous extract involves complex interactions between cations, solvent molecules, and pectin chain segments. The larger precipitation effect observed with divalent ions compared to monovalent ions may be due to enhanced inter-chain interactions between pectin molecules, probably via the formation of intermolecular bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal precipitation is an effective method for the purification of pectins. To study the selectivity of copper ions toward binding pectic or non-pectic compounds, two fractions, namely copper-precipitated pectins (CPP) and copper-unprecipitated pectins (CUP) were fractionated from the mother sugar beet pectins by means of copper precipitation. Comparison on chemical feature revealed the isolated fractions were structurally different in that CUP contained markedly higher neutral sugars (NS) and protein contents, but lower galacturonic acid and acetyl ester group contents than CPP. However, no appreciable difference was observed in terms of degree of methylation (DM). Elution profiles on high performance size exclusion chromatograph showed that CPP exhibited a monomodal-like molecular weight distribution (MWD), while CUP demonstrated a multimodal-like MWD pattern composed of three relatively broad peaks, and a narrow peak that was associated with a high intensity of UV signal at 278 nm. Moreover, AFM analysis showed that CPP displayed branched fibrous structures, while CUP showed distinguishable granular-like shapes. Results obtained in this work indicate the employed copper ions selectively bind the anionic regions among pectin chains, thereby separating pectic saccharides from non-uronide compounds, i.e. low molecular weight carbohydrates and free proteins. The poor affinity of copper ions toward CUP might be determined by the absence of typical homogalacturonan (HG) regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of precipitation modes on the co-precipitation of insoluble oxalates particles during the purification of sugar beet pectins (SBP) from the extract were investigated. It was observed that soluble oxalate ions formed insoluble oxalate salts with calcium and precipitated with pectins during ethanol precipitation as pH of the medium increased and the solvent changed from water to ethanol–water mixture. Comparison among the employed precipitation methods revealed that both the dialysis–ethanol-precipitation and metal precipitation effectively prevented the calcium-oxalate contamination of SBP. Emulsifying properties of DEPP, EPP and MPP were also studied. It was observed that DEPP performed better than the remainder with respect to emulsifying ability. Based on these results, we concluded that the dialysis–ethanolic-precipitation can be a suitable method for improving the purity as well as emulsifying properties of the resulting pectins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as an auxiliary to improve the ethanol precipitation yield of sugar beet pulp pectin (SBPP). The adjunction of BSA reduced the zeta potential of SBPP solution to a certain extent, which indicated that they were related to each other by electrostatic interaction. The hydration radius (R h) of SBPP molecules decreased with the addition of BSA, reflecting the decrease of hydration degree of SBPP molecules. The effect of BSA on the ethanol precipitation yield of SBPP at different ethanol concentrations and different pH values was studied. The results showed that the presence of BSA could significantly reduce the dependence of SBPP on ethanol during the precipitation process. The effect of BSA on the precipitation behavior of SBPP was also regulated by system pH. The results of pectin structural analysis showed that there was no significant difference between SBPPs precipitated along with BSA and the original pectin samples in terms of galacturonic acid (GalA), neutral sugar (NS) and degree of methylation (DM). The high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) analysis showed that BSA could precipitate together with SBPP, but did not contribute to the precipitation of small-sized pectic fractions in SBPP solution. SBPP-BSA co-precipitation products were used to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions, and the storage stability of the resulting emulsions was significantly higher than that of the SBPP-stabilized emulsions. This method provided a new idea for reducing the consumption of ethanol in pectin precipitation. Meanwhile, the pectin-protein complex product obtained by co-precipitation had a good performance at stabilizing emulsions. Image 1 • BSA markedly aided the ethanol precipitation of SBPP. • The SBPP-BSA electrostatic complexes were formed and co-precipitated by ethanol. • Co-precipitated SBPP-BSA complexes showed improved emulsion stabilisation properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to construct conjugates of sugar beet pectin (SBP) with exogenous proteins by adopting a genipin (GP) crosslinking strategy. The conversion processes of two protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and whey protein isolate (WPI) to the molecular chains of SBP were investigated using high-performance size-exclusion chromatography technology under varying SBP/exogenous protein weight ratios (SPR) (2:1–20:1) and crosslinking times (1–25 h). When prepared at SPR 10:1, the formed SBP-WPI/BSA-SBP conjugates had notably higher molecular weights of 2151 ± 68 kg/mol and 1758 ± 45 kg/mol, respectively, in comparison with that of SBP (289 ± 16 kg/mol). In terms of reactivity, WPI showed higher reactivity than BSA in crosslinking with SBP by GP. Two representative samples, SBP-WPI-Conjugate and SBP-BSA-Conjugate, prepared at SPR 10:1 after 25 h of crosslinking were further analyzed for surface hydrophobicity (S 0) and emulsifying properties. It was found that S 0 values of the SBP-WPI-Conjugate and SBP-BSA-Conjugate were significantly lower than that of the control blend samples. Furthermore, the selected conjugates showed superior emulsion stabilizing properties as compared with SBP-exogenous protein blends or individual SBP and exogenous proteins. After storage at 60 °C for 7 d, emulsions stabilized by SBP-WPI-Conjugate and SBP-BSA-Conjugate at concentration of 1 g/100 g emulsion had mean droplet diameters of 0.735 ± 0.023 μm and 0.733 ± 0.011 μm at pH 3.5, and 0.972 ± 0.020 μm and 1.07 ± 0.08 μm at pH 7.0, respectively. Altogether, the work demonstrates that the GP crosslinking method is suitable for upgrading SBP to SBP-protein conjugate with enhanced emulsification properties. Image 1 • The covalent conjugation between SBP and WPI/BSA was initiated by genipin. • Target sites of the conjugation were the primary amine groups of lysine residues. • The conjugation was verified by HPSEC-MALLS-RI-UV chromatography. • Geinpin-induced SBP-WPI/BSA conjugates had excellent emulsification properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]