Edible oleogels made from rice bran wax (RBW) or ethylcellulose (EC) organogelators in combination with vegetable oils and other non-fat ingredients were used to produce oleogel cream cheese products. Four oleogel cream cheese products, two containing RBW and two with EC, were prepared and compared to control samples including full-fat and fat-free commercial cream cheese samples. Upon compositional analysis, all the oleogel cream cheese (OCC) samples showed approximately a 25% reduction in total fat content in comparison to the full-fat commercial control. More specifically by the replacement of saturated fat with healthier unsaturated fat alternatives, an improved fatty acid profile of cream cheese products was documented. Similar compositional analysis was also performed on a cream cheese sample made with non-gelled vegetable oil. Using a single penetration test and a strain sweep test, oleogel cream cheese samples prepared with RBW displayed comparable hardness, spreadability, and stickiness values to the full-fat commercial control sample. EC OCC samples also showed comparable hardness, spreadability and stickiness values but exhibited reduced adhesiveness values compared to the full-fat control. The successful microstructural incorporation of oleogels into a cream cheese, along with similarities in fat globule size, between OCC samples and commercial controls was confirmed with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy. The similarity in microstructure can be accounted for the similarities in textural properties between the OCC samples and the full-fat control. These results provide a thorough characterization of the use of RBW and EC in oleogels and their potential as a healthy alternative to saturated fat in cream cheese applications.

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.