Over the past few decades, the scientific community is actively
involved in the development of edible structuring agents suitable
for food, cosmetics, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology
applications. In particular, edible oil structuring using simple amphiphiles
would be the best alternative for the currently used trans and saturated
fatty acids, which cause deleterious health effects and cardiovascular
problems. In this report, we have made an attempt to address the aforementioned
consequences, by synthesizing a new class of structuring agents by
a judicious combination of δ-gluconolactone and ricinoleic acid,
compounds classified as GRAS, using simple steps in good yield. To
our delight, the synthesized glycolipids self-assemble in a wide variety
of vegetable oils and commercially viable glycerol, ethylene glycol,
and polyethylene glycol via various intermolecular interactions to
form a gel. The morphology of molecular gels was investigated by optical
microscopy and FESEM analysis, which reveal the existence of a tubular
architecture with a diameter ranging from 75 to 150 nm. Rheological
studies disclosed the viscoelastic nature, thermal processability,
and thixotropic behavior of both oleogels and organogels. Altogether,
self-assembled oleogel and organogel reported in this paper would
potentially be used in food, agricultural, cosmetics, pharmaceutical,
and biotechnological applications.