INFORM February 2025 Volume 36 (2)

inform February 2025, Vol. 36 (2) • 17

addition of lipase inhibitor

insertion in the glass capillary for X-ray analysis

Schematic of digestion setup. Two digestion vessels worked in parallel, continuously monitored by researchers who maintained a constant pH of seven in the emulsions during the intestinal phase. At different points during digestion, samples were taken for X-ray characterization at the beamline. Source: Tiago C. Pinto, University of Helsinki

waxes tended to remain in the highly-stable beta prime form, whereas those structured with FHPO tended to become less organized over time. This could be because the waxes are not digestible. As the rapeseed oil in the wax-structured emulsions was digested, the waxes began to dominate, causing the sample to become more organized overall. On the other hand, as the oil was digested in the FHPO samples, the beta form they displayed to begin with disappeared, giving way to other, less stable forms. “It is complex, because the polymorphs we see appear ing and disappearing do not necessarily mean the same com ponents are changing from one form to another,” Pinto said. “During digestion, many products appear in many forms.” The results also indicated that the structural changes that occurred within the oil phase and emulsifiers were likely more responsible for differences in the digestibility of the samples rather than the composition of the oil phase itself, although

hope to link changes in microstructure with their implications for controlling lipid digestibility. However, much more investi gation is necessary to untangle exactly what happens to these emulsions during digestion. “There are limitations with any in-vitro study. Because our model happens in a vessel, it does not account for all of the movement that occurs in the mouth, esophagus and stom ach, for example,” Pinto said. “We are doing very fundamental work at this point, and others in the field can help us fill in the gaps and contribute to the knowledge base we are building.” The use of synchrotrons in food applications is growing. In-vitro digestion experiments at synchrotrons have been con ducted to study the digestibility of milk, for example. Previous studies of oleogels and other lipid formations have taken advantage of synchrotron light, but few have investigated what happens to these materials during simulated digestion at the beamline in real time. Pinto and his colleagues intend to pub lish the results of their study later this year. Savannah Mitchem is a freelance science writer with eight years of experience covering research and development in a broad range of scientific disciplines. She can be contacted at Savannah.L.Mitchem@gmail.com.

further analysis may reveal differently. LIMITATIONS AND NEXT STEPS

The highly detailed results provided by synchrotron studies could play a pivotal role in the development of healthy and pal atable oleogel emulsions down the line. Eventually, researchers