Recently, a number of publications demonstrated the successful applications of oleogels (OG) (liquid oils gelled through organogelators) in food products. Although many highlighted the health benefits of OG, potential negative impacts of thermal processing during oleogelation on nutrition and flavor quality of the OGbased food are not fully studied. Hence, in this study, an oleogel-cream-cheese (OCC) product was formulated and the effects of OG processing on the oil's oxidative stability and the tocopherol content were investigated. The OG system used in the cheese product was prepared with high-oleic soybean oil (HOSO) and rice bran wax. An ungelled cream-cheese sample (UGCC) and two commercial cream-cheese products were used as controls. Although high-performance liquid chromatography data analysis showed a lower total tocopherol content in OG samples compared to HOSO, the samples' α-tocopherol content remained comparable. No significant differences were observed between the total tocopherol contents of OCC and UGCC cheese products, and the amount of all three-tocopherol isomers remained constant during 14 days of storage. Although oxidation analysis showed more volatile compounds in OG samples compared to HOSO, there was only a minor difference in the volatile content between the OCC and UGCC samples. The results show minimal degradation of vegetable OG due to the thermal processing and storage that may help their potential application in dairy products.

The field of oleogel research has been active in recent decades, generating numerous oleogels with desirable properties like thermal resistance, texture, and structural stability. Moreover, several food matrices have been formulated with oleogels. In some cases, oleogels in these food products have been shown to resemble textural attributes of products made with conventional hardstock fat, to enhance dietary nutrition, to demonstrate high physical and oxidative stability, and to exhibit a high oil binding capacity. These innovations clearly illustrate the potential of the field of oleogels, but certain drawbacks and a lack of in-depth information in various aspects have delayed its commercialization in the food industry. This review aims to update the current status of the oleogel field and to cover some areas that need to be addressed to make oleogel foods a reality in the near future.

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Consumer demand for high protein content and plant-based fat has necessitated novel approaches to healthy food products. In response to this need, oleogels (OG) (structured liquid oils) emerged as a possible means of not only replacing saturated and trans fats but also delivering food protein. Nevertheless, an in-depth view of the structure of networks made of OG and protein is deficient. Hence, the objective of this study is developing oleocolloid (OC) (whey protein and rice bran wax OG) and hydro-oleocolloid (HOC) (OC + water) matrices with varying protein content (2.5–7.5%) to characterize their structural properties. Thermal analysis of the matrices via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) documented the effects of hydrophobic interactions on the protein structure and its stability. Whey protein denaturation temperature increased from 74.9 °C to 102.8 °C in the presence of high oleic soybean oil. The effects of vegetable oil on WPI structure was also verified by FTIR spectroscopy. Data analysis revealed slight structural changes of the WPI secondary structure in the hydrophobic oil medium and the α-helix and β-sheet proportion in the emulsion medium was significantly altered. Similar analysis was performed in OC and HOC networks to quantify possible interactions between protein and rice bran wax. Results indicated that the protein was denatured during the thermal and mechanical conditions required for the oleogelation process, while it did not affect the systems’ solid fat content (SFC) and polymorphic patterns of the oleogels. However, DSC analysis showed different onset of melting for OC and HOC samples due to colloidal interactions between the protein and the lipid phase. The role of these chemistry was confirmed by microscopy analyses where OC and HOC matrices displayed notably different microstructural properties. The observed differences in the structural properties between OC and HOC matrices indicate the different colloidal interactions mediated by oleogelation process and the liquid medium type (oil vs. emulsion).

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