Sterol-based oleogels characterization envisioning food applications

BACKGROUND Phytosterols, in particular a mixture of pure oryzanol and sitosterol, develop a tubular system that is able to structure oil. In this study, different concentrations of a combination of oryzanol and a commercial phytosterol mixture, Vitaesterol®, were used for the development of edible oil oleogels. RESULTS Small Angle Xray Scattering (SAXS) and XRay Diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize at nano and molecular scale the aforementioned oleogels and confirm the formation of sterolsbased hollow tubule structures. Increased hardness was observed with the increase of gelator content used in oleogel manufacturing. The produced oleogels showed promising features such as tailored mechanical strength and low opacity, which are important features when considering their incorporation into food products. CONCLUSION Despite of differences in gel strength, oleogels exhibited textural characteristics that make these structures suitable for incorporation in food products. The oil migration profile associated to these oleogels can provide a solution for the controlled release of lipophilic compounds as well as for the retention of oil in cooked food products.Artur Martins is recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-2015) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors thank the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS, Campinas, SP, Brazil) for the opportunity to carry out SAXS measurements. Artur Martins also thank the UNICAMP, FAEPEX INTERNACIONAL 2015 Project. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.