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To explore the controlled-release capacity and potential application of water in oil (W/O) emulsions, W/O emulsions with bittern solution as the aqueous phase were prepared with polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) as the emulsifier. Several factors that influenced the preparation of W/O bittern coagulants were investigated. Optimized conditions were applied as follows: bittern solution/oil phase at 4:6 or 5:5 ( w/ w), processing temperature at 65 °C, emulsifier concentration higher than 0.6 wt% and high-pressure homogenization at 60 MPa; W/O emulsions that had a good particle size distribution, good rheological properties, good embedding ratio and high stability were prepared. The optimized W/O emulsions also exhibited the expected controlled-release ability, affected by the bath temperature, shear speed and emulsion characteristics. The preliminary results also showed that the application of W/O emulsions has the potential to improve tofu quality by delaying the solidification of soybean protein and creating a much smoother and finer gel structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]