Emulsion stabilization by native cellulose has been mainly hampered because of its insolubility in water. Chemical modification is normally needed to obtain water-soluble cellulose derivatives. These modified celluloses have been widely used for a range of applications by the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutic, paint and construction industries. In most cases, the modified celluloses are used as rheology modifiers (thickeners) or as emulsifying agents. In the last decade, the structural features of cellulose have been revisited, with particular focus on its structural anisotropy (amphiphilicity) and the molecular interactions leading to its resistance to dissolution. The amphiphilic behavior of native cellulose is evidenced by its capacity to adsorb at the interface between oil and aqueous solvent solutions, thus being capable of stabilizing emulsions. In this overview, the fundamentals of emulsion formation and stabilization by biomolecules are briefly revisited before different aspects around the emerging role of cellulose as emulsion stabilizer are addressed in detail. Particular focus is given to systems stabilized by native cellulose, either molecularly-dissolved or not (Pickering-like effect).

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The catastrophic emulsion inversion from abnormal to normal morphology is produced in different conditions, as far as the experimental protocol is concerned. Far from optimum formulation, the inversion is found to take place when the fraction of the dispersed phase, which may be a single phase or an inner emulsion of a multiple emulsion, reaches a critical packing value. Near optimum formulation, a so-called low-tension streaming-bicontinuity regime is found to happen instead of an emulsion morphology. The phenomenology is used to interpret the emulsification of viscous oil phases in industrial processes.