This Springer Brief gives an overview of recent research conducted in
the area of oil structuring starting with a detailed introduction on
oleogelation and properties of food-approved building blocks followed by
the discussion of some illustrative examples to explain the processing
steps required for creating oleogels, advanced characterization
(rheological, thermal and microstructural) and some potential edible
applications of oleogels. The book w concludes with a section
summarizing the general guidelines on the properties of oleogels and
practically of approach with regards to the specific category of
building blocks used for structuring. The text also lists some
unresolved challenges that need to be addressed in order to fully
exploit oleogelation for future food product development.
The functional application of liquid oils in food product development is
mostly accomplished by structuring them into soft, plastic-like
materials. This structuring of oil is traditionally based on the fat
crystal network formed by high melting triacylglycerol (TAG) molecules
that are rich in trans and/or saturated fatty acids. Currently, due to
the factors such as the requirement for trans- and saturated fat-free
food products, sustainable manufacturing and ethical trade practices,
the research in the area of identifying alternative routes to oil
structuring (in the absence of trans and saturated fats) has been
regarded as a 'hot topic' in the bio-scientific community. Oleogelation
(gelling of liquid oil in absence of crystallizable TAGs) is one such
alternative, which has recently attracted tremendous attention from
researchers and industrial scientists working in the domain of food
product development. The possibility of creating structured gels that
contain a large amount of liquid oil (usually above 90 wt%) opens up
many possibilities to develop food products with better nutritional
profiles.
