Abstract Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is a modification of natural cellulose derived from plants or fermentation products such as nata de coco, by increasing the crystallinity, aspect ratio, surface area, dispersion, and biodegradability through the acid hydrolysis process, which is widely used in the food sector and pharmaceuticals. The variables of the methods and hydrolysis reagents used will affect the characteristics of MCC. The objective of this study was to determine the characteristics of MCC from nata de coco using different acids consisting of two treatments which are hydrolysis with 2.5 N hydrochloric acid (MCCHCl) and 62.5 wt maleic acids (MCCMA). The results showed that the use of different hydrolysis reagents produced different MCC characteristics. Hydrolysis of cellulose with hydrochloric acid produced MCC with a higher crystallinity index, degradation temperature, particle size, and zeta potential value but the decomposition temperature was lower than that of MCC from maleic acid. Both MCC have a narrow particle size distribution and an irregular shape with a more uneven fiber surface texture of the MCCMA and contain CO and CC groups that are not present in MCCHCl. The viscosity of MCCHCl combined with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) 12 was higher than that of MCCMA under the same conditions, where the addition of both MCC with a concentration of 5 into the oil‐in‐water emulsion (O/W) showed good stability for 3 months, but at a concentration of 1.5 showed with creaming in the O/W emulsion with MCCHCl and no O/W emulsion was formed with MCCMA. Both MCC without the addition of CMC showed better characteristics than commercial MCC.
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