Oleogelation of Polyunsaturated Oils with Phytosterols

Saturated, solid fats are added to formulated foods to give structure and to carry oil soluble flavours and vitamins. However, saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels and thus are a risk factor in cardio-vascular disease (CVD). Solid fats are predominantly of animal origin and are not suitable for vegan products. This can be circumvented by adding palm fat or coconut fat. This does not solve the saturated fat issue and introduces a further complication in that palm oil has a poor sustainability image with consumers due to destruction of native habitat to plant oil palm plantations. Oleogelation is a potential solution to both the saturated fat and sustainability problems. An oleogel is formed from polyunsaturated liquid oils by adding a gelling molecule, for example a mixture of plant phytosterols or other low molecular weight gelators or polymeric gelators such as proteins. We have studied oleogels as fat replacers for several years and have developed a deep understanding of the underlying physico-chemical principles for gel formation. Any vegetable oil can be solidified using this method, negating the need to use non-sustainably sourced solid plant saturated fats.
In this seminar I will detail the work we have done to understand the formation mechanisms and structure of phytosterol oleogels using various techniques (small angle neutron scattering, AFM, molecular dynamics simulation) as well as our recent work on applying these gelling technologies to vegan cheese formulations.