Modulation and Characterization of Wax-Based Olive Oil Organogels in View of Their Application in the Food Industry.

Pedro M Silva,Artur J Martins,Luiz H Fasolin,António A Vicente

doi:10.3390/gels7010012

Pedro M Silva, Artur J Martins + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/gels7010012

Copy DOI

Abstract

Olive oil has recognized health benefits but lacks structural resilience to act in a similar fashion as do the typically used triglycerides (TAGs) when applied in food manufacturing. Therefore, olive oil structuring is critical to widening its use as a healthier alternative in spreadable products. Foreseeing the development of an application for the food industry, three types of natural waxes were used as organogelators, generating olive oil organogels with distinct properties. Retail-simulated storage conditions were used to mimic real-life industrial and commercial use. Organogel systems were evaluated according to their oxidation stability and textural and rheological properties. Textural and rheological parameters increased in response to increasing gelator concentration, while oxidation values (below 1.5 meq O2·kg−1) remained within legal limits. Organogels displayed similar textural properties to those of commercially available spreadable products, while displaying a low critical gelation concentration. In short, it was shown that tailoring the physicochemical properties of organogels towards specific applications is possible. The produced organogels showed similar properties to the ones of commercially available spreadable products, revealing favourable oxidative profiles. Therefore, an industrial application can be easily foreseen, building on the natural characteristics of olive oil as a healthier alternative to current spreadable products.

Highlights

Polyunsaturated natural vegetable or fruit oils are known to have several benefits when compared to saturated and/or trans fats, which are associated to negative effects such as oxidative stress, cancer onset, cardiovascular diseases, increased body weight and insulin resistance [1]
The critical gelation concentration values are in the same range of those found in previous studies, around 3% [5,11,12]
The use of an oil phase with longer chain triglycerides (LCT), in conjugation with lower polarity and higher degree of unsaturation, may have steered to lower gelation concentrations when compared to reports using medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oils [10,16,23]

Summary

Introduction

Polyunsaturated natural vegetable or fruit oils are known to have several benefits when compared to saturated and/or trans fats, which are associated to negative effects such as oxidative stress, cancer onset, cardiovascular diseases, increased body weight and insulin resistance [1]. Despite that, such saturated and/or trans fats are generally applied in food products as texture modifiers due to their convenient physical properties, while healthier edible oils are generally found in a liquid state, limiting their applicability. Polymeric organogels are mainly formed through the cross-linked networks established by covalent interactions, while LMOGs are based mainly on non-covalent interactions (e.g., van der Waals interactions, H-bonding, π-π stacking) [13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion