## 3 Results and Discussion
### Influence of the Pectin/Emulsion Mass Ratio  
In this section, different pectin gel/emulsion mass ratios were investigated. As occurred with variables previously studied, the particle size distribution was monomodal at the 24 h aging time (Figure 6A). It should be noted that the DSP of the emulsion was the same as that of the emulgel obtained with a higher amount of emulsion. As the pectin content increased to the detriment of that of the emulsion, the intensity of the main peak decreased slightly. No significant differences were found in average particle sizes, as can be seen in Figure 6B and demonstrates the statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) carried out. It is worth noting that pectin is known not only as a thickener or gelling agent but also as an emulsifier, being the mechanism accepted that pectin is adsorbed on the surface of the droplets through anchor points, resulting in loop and tail adsorption. However, the results previously obtained revealed that the main function of pectin in these samples was not as an emulsifier because its presence does not significantly influence particle size. This result could be expected for several reasons. On the one hand, it might be because similar pectins at the olive oil/water interface are capable of reducing interfacial tension but are not as effective as commercial surfactants [38]. On the other hand, as reported  
Figure 4: (**A**) Particle size distributions for fresh 50P/50E emulgels at different rotational rates. (**B**) Mean diameters and span as a function of the rotational rates. The bars correspond to standard deviation. The tests were carried out at an ambient temperature. Figure 5: Time evolution of the Turbiscan Stability Index calculated for the entire height of the measuring cell, with aging time (15 days) for 50P/50E emulgels as a function of the rotational rate. by [PERSON] et al. (2020) [45], pectin microgels are less effective as an emulsifier than pectin as a linear polymer. Note that in our research, the pectin gel is really a sheared gel as indicated below. In addition, the emulgel preparation protocol also influences the results. In other works [12; 38; 42], pectin was added to the continuous phase of the emulsion and once formed, calcium ions were added to proceed to the formation of the emulgel. In those cases, pectin may adsorb at the interface and contribute to the formation and stabilization of the emulsion. However, in this research, the pectin, previously gelled, was added to a nanoemulsion which was also already formed. Under these conditions, in addition to the low interfacial activity as mentioned above, its function as an emulsifier is hindered. Note that the mean diameters, as for the previous emulgels and emulsions, were below 150 nm; hence, it is possible to state that they were nanoemulgels. In Figure 7, the variation of the particle size distribution with the aging time of the assessed emulgels is illustrated. On the one hand, note that these samples are really heterogeneous, as can be deduced from the high value of the standard deviation found. This fact is more relevant when the pectin concentration is higher. To understand this result, it is necessary to remember that the pectin gel used as the structured phase of these emulsions was a sheared gel because its gelation process was interrupted by shear forces by dispersing CaCl\({}_{2}\). As a consequence, nanogels and microgels were formed; hence, a sheared gel can be defined as a suspension of gelled particles [46]. This sheared gel is a heterogeneous structure derived from its granular nature at the particle level. As the proportion of pectin gel increased in the formulation of the emulgel, the number of these gelled particles present in the final product also increased, and hence the greater variability observed. The occurrence of these nano and microgels in fluid gels was also stated by other authors [12; 47; 45].