Comparison of different oleogels in processed cheese products formulation

Abstract

Summary This study investigates the potential usage of unsaturated vegetable oil oleogel to replace solid milk fat in processed cheese products (PCPs). Soybean oil was gelled using rice bran wax (RBW) or sunflower wax (SW) at two different concentrations and used to produce PCPs with final concentrations of 0.5% or 1% wax. An ungelled oil PCP and a commercial milk fat processed cheese (CC) were produced for comparison. Upon compositional analysis, moisture and fat content were similar between oleogel PCPs (OPCP) and the CC sample; however, lower saturated fat content was observed in the OPCPs. Samples’ microscopy analysis revealed that the incorporation of oleogels reduced oil agglomeration observed in the ungelled PCPs, which confirms the presence of a higher oil holding capacity in the OPCPs. Rheological and thermomechanical analysis demonstrated comparable hardness, storage modulus and meltability values between the OPCPs and the control samples. This study provides insight into the potential applications for oleogels in the replacement milk fat in processed cheese products with desirable properties.

A Critical Review of the Last 10 Years of Oleogels in Food

“…This was due to the MC oleogel acting as a physical barrier that helped reduce the movement of gluten networks (Patel et al, 2014a). The successful applications of oleogels on hardness, spreadability, and stickiness in cream cheese and processed cheese products are also reported by the Maleky group (Bemer et al, 2016;Huang et al, 2018). As mentioned before, the authors linked their observation to the similarity in the solid fat network between the oleogels and controlled products.…”

“…Cream cheese and processed cheese products High oleic soybean; soybean; Rice bran wax; ethycellulose and sunflower wax Bemer et al, 2016;Huang et al, 2018;Park et al, 2018 Ice 2017incorporated β-carotene in EC oleogels and demonstrated that the oleogelation reduced the degradation of β-carotene compared to β-carotene in just oil, thus elevating its bioaccessibility. These examples serve as a library of possible beneficial oleogel properties suitable for food applications.…”

“…The appropriate selection of oils and oleogels is very important in providing successful products. For instance, Huang et al (2018), who structured high oleic acid soybean oil into processed cheese products, reported that in a comparison of rice bran wax (RBW) and sunflower wax (SW), only RBW oleogels were able to mimic hardness of a milk fat control. This was shown to be related to chemical compositions of SW and RBW gelators.…”

“…This was shown to be related to chemical compositions of SW and RBW gelators. In particular, RBW consists of about 100% wax ester compared to sunflower (77% wax ester), which significantly affected physical properties of the cheese products (Huang et al, 2018). Yilmaz and Ögütcü (2015a) showed different hardness for SW oleogels made with hazelnut vs. virgin olive oils.…”

Oleogels in Food: A Review of Current and Potential Applications

“…Milk fat contained by the cheese products was replaced by soybean oil gelled using rice bran wax or sunflower wax, and the final concentrations of waxes in the cheese products was as low as 0.5% or 1%. The rheological and thermo-mechanical analysis resulted in comparable properties, such as hardness, storage modulus, and meltability, between the products based on wax oleogel and the control samples obtained with commercial milk fat [94]. The utilization of gelled oil in processed cheese products resulted in a less expensive product, with a reduced content of milk fat, no added chemicals or processing agents and also improved physicochemical properties of low solid fat cheese products.…”