Physical Properties of Beeswax, Sunflower Wax, and Candelilla Wax Mixtures and Oleogels

Abstract

To be able to tailor and optimize the physical properties of oleogels for various food applications, more information is needed to understand how different gelators interact. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the interactions between binary mixtures of beeswax (BW), candelilla wax (CLW), and sunflower wax (SFW) in pure form as well as in 5% wax oleogels made with soybean oil, in terms of their crystallization and melting properties, crystal morphology, solid fat content, and gel firmness. CLW:BW mixtures had eutectic melting properties, and oleogels from these mixtures with 40:60 to 90:10 CLW:BW were firmer compared to oleogels made with one wax. The main components in SFW and BW appeared to cocrystallize or crystallize at the same temperature, but nonlinear changes in melting point and solid fat content profile of oleogels prepared with the mixed waxes indicated that SFW dominated oleogel formation. In addition, oleogels prepared with mixtures of SFW and BW had lower firmness compared to oleogels prepared with one wax, indicating an incompatibility between the two waxes. The main wax components in SFW and CLW never cocrystallized, and low levels of CLW appeared to prevent SFW from forming a crystalline platelet network. This resulted in low firmness of oleogels made from mixtures of 90:10 to 60:40 SFW:CLW compared to oleogels prepared with one wax. However, the firmest oleogels of all mixtures were made from 10:90 SFW:CLW. Changes in gel firmness and melting properties with mixed wax oleogels were likely to be due to changes observed in the crystal size and morphology. In addition, the firmest gels were shown to result from mixtures that were predicted to have >40% hydrocarbon content, and a high hydrocarbon to wax ester ratio, but minor components such as free fatty acids and fatty alcohols may have also influenced firmness.

Properties of margarines prepared from soybean oil oleogels with mixtures of candelilla wax and beeswax

“…The melting curves of oleogels were similar to those in previous studies (Martins, Cerqueira, Fasolin, Cunha, & Vicente, 2016; Winkler‐Moser, Anderson, Felker et al., 2019; Yi, Kim, Lee, & Lee, 2017). The first small melting peak ( T p 1) of BW0 oleogel is likely the phase transition of the hydrocarbon crystals from the monoclinic to rotor phase based on findings in the previous studies (Serrato‐Palacios et al., 2015; Winkler‐Moser, Anderson, Felker et al., 2019). According to these previous studies, the major melting peak ( T p 2) is due to the melting of the hydrocarbon rotor phase crystals, and the third melting peak ( T p 3) can be speculated to be another CDW component such as wax ester, free‐fatty acid, or another form of the hydrocarbon.…”

“…As shown in Figure 1, firmness of BW75 margarine was 9.0, 6.7, and 4.5 times higher that of BW100 at 3, 5, and 7% wax levels, respectively. As previous study (Winkler‐Moser, Anderson, Felker et al., 2019) explained with micrographs of oleogels, the great firmness of margarines with mixtures of CDW and BW than those with pure waxes may be attributed to smaller platelet‐like crystals and a stronger crystalline microstructure at a certain ratio of hydrocarbons and wax esters. At this point, the reason for different behaviors of margarines at different concentrations of waxes is not well understood, and further studies are needed.…”

“…Annual world production of margarine was 14.2 million tons in 2014 (Tridge, 2020). Among the many types of oleogels that have been studied, natural wax‐based oleogels have unique advantages including relatively low melting point, high oil binding capacity, high gel strength, and low cost (Hwang, Kim, Singh, Winkler‐Moser, & Liu, 2012; Winkler‐Moser, Anderson, Felker, & Hwang, 2019). Natural waxes may also have additional health benefits such as lowering serum cholesterol levels (Kanya, Lokesh, & Sastry, 2008).…”

The thermal, rheological, and structural characterization of grapeseed oil oleogels structured with binary blends of oleogelator

“…The eutectic melting temperature of the CDW‐75:GMS‐25 sample was determined to be approximately 46 °C. In addition to the CDW and GMS blends, eutectic behaviors were previously found in several binary wax blends, such as beeswax/paraffin wax, sunflower wax/paraffine wax, sunflower wax/beeswax, rice bran wax/beeswax, and CDW/beeswax (Jana & Martini, 2016a; Winkler‐Moser et al., 2019). As mentioned in the Introduction section, one of the major problems with natural wax‐based oleogels is higher melting point than conventional fats (Hwang et al., 2013).…”

Tailoring Properties of Mixed-Component Oleogels: Wax and Monoglyceride Interactions Towards Flaxseed Oil Structuring

“…A myriad of oleogelators such as fatty acid derivatives, sterols, and polymers have been studied for oleogel formation [7][8][9][10][11]. Among them are natural waxes that are widely used for vegetable oil structuring purposes.…”