Keywords beta-Carotene; Pickering emulsions; Complex nanogels; Gastrointestinal digestion; Bioaccessibility Highlights * Pickering emulsions were found to be stable under thermal treatment. * Pickering emulsions protected beta-carotene from chemical degradation during storage. * Lipid oxidation rate could be delayed by Pickering emulsions. * The bioaccessibility of beta-carotene in Pickering emulsions was higher than bulk oil. beta-Carotene was encapsulated in the Pickering emulsions stabilized by chitosan hydrochloride -- carboxymethyl starch (CHC-CMS) nanogels. During ultraviolet radiation and storage, the retention of beta-carotene in Pickering emulsions was higher than that of other formulations, such as Tween 80 stabilized emulsions (TEs) and bulk oil. The Pickering emulsions were found to be stable during thermal treatment. Meanwhile, lipid oxidation was delayed in Pickering emulsions compared to TEs and bulk oil. The vitro digestion results suggested that the free fatty acids (FFA) released were below 30% for all Pickering emulsions, which indicated that a physical barrier was formed by CHC-CMS nanogels to restrain the lipid hydrolysis. The bioaccessibility of beta-carotene in Pickering emulsions was higher than that in bulk oil. This research helped establish a connection between the physicochemical properties of CHC-CMS stabilized Pickering emulsions with their applications in the protection effect and oral delivery of bioactive compounds. Author Affiliation: (a) Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, 193 Tunxi Road, Hefei, Anhui 230009, PR China (b) Department of Food and Bioengineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, No. 136 Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, PR China (c) School of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, Shandong, PR China (d) School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 193 Tunxi Road, Hefei, Anhui 230009, PR China (e) State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, Changsha 410125, PR China (f) Technology Extension Service Center for Forest and Fruit Industries in Turpan, Turpan, Xinjiang 838000, PR China * Corresponding author at: Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, 193 Tunxi Road, Hefei, Anhui 230009, PR China. Article History: Received 27 June 2019; Revised 22 January 2020; Accepted 22 January 2020 (footnote)1 These authors contributed equally to this work. Byline: Xiao-Min Li (a,d,1), Xuehong Li (b,1), Zhengzong Wu (c), Ying Wang (a,d), Jie-Shun Cheng (a,d), Ting Wang (f), Bao Zhang baoz@hfut.edu.cn (a,d,e,*)