Edible oil structuring: an overview and recent updates

Abstract

In recent years, research dealing with edible oil structuring has received considerable interest from scientific community working in the area of food formulation. Much of this interest is linked to the possibility of using structured oil in development of newer product formats with improved nutritional profile (trans fat-free, low in saturated fats and high in mono and/or poly unsaturated fatty acids). In addition to the obvious industrial need of finding the alternative formulation approach, the interesting properties of structured systems (particularly, oleogels) also makes them a fascinating subject for fundamental studies. In this paper, we attempt to give a comprehensive and concise overview of the field of oil structuring with special emphasis on the updates from recent years. Specifically, several categories of food-grade oleogelators and their potential food applications are summarized with typical examples along with a discussion on the general principles and unresolved challenges related to this emerging area.

Physicochemical and Rheological Properties and Microstructure of Canola oil as Affected by Monoacylglycerols

“…This may be due to the ease of fatty acid chain arrangement and the strength of the hydrogen bonding of the hydroxyl groups (19). In addition, the free hydroxyl groups of MAGs are able to form a crystal network via hydrogen bonds and trap the liquid phase in the network (1,20).…”

“…Naderi et al (4) reported that MAG application at 0.5 % (w/w) concentration could prevent phase separation in chicken fat. Totally, because of the formation of self-assembly networks by MAGs, structured fats have low SFA content and offer comparable quality characteristics to fats containing greater SFA contents (1,4).…”

“…Structuring agents are able to create a solid state in oil matrix by forming a 3D network, capable of entrapping oil. Such compounds decrease the induction time of crystallization by intensifying the formation of crystal nuclei (1). The main advantage of such ingredients is the solidification of liquid oils without a noticeable increase in saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (TFA) content (2).…”

Viscous Flow Behaviour of Karanja Oil Based Bio-lubricant Base Oil

“…The oleogels are formed through the in situ formation of covalent bonds between the network molecules causing structuring/immobilizaion of vegetable oils 32 . The gelation efficiency of vegetable oils increases linearly with their acyl chain lengths implying a head-to-tail configuration of the linear structures that may induce development of an irregular network strengthened by intermolecular hydrogen bonding 30 .…”

“…The fatty acids, fatty alcohols, mono glycerides and wax esters present in vegetable oils are known to be lipid-based organogelators 30 . The organogelator molecules are amphiphilic in nature and self-assemble in hydrophobic liquids on the nano-scale at very low concentrations 1 when an appropriate balance between solubility and aggregation forces exists 31 .…”