INFORM September 2024

14 • inform September 2024, Vol. 35 (8)

Capillary networks:

Bridging the gaps

in edible oleogels Selvyn Simoes

Airy croissants, tender biscuits and luxurious chocolate all have one thing in common: solid fat. In croissants butter is laminated into sheets between layers of dough, giving it its airy and flaky texture. Butter coats flour particles in biscuits preventing hydration and gluten formation producing ten derness. Chocolate is about 30 percent cocoa butter and when tempered properly melts in the mouth. These examples illustrate the functional aspects of solid fat like plasticity, barrier properties, and melting temperature. The desirable attributes of these and many other foods rely on the structural contribution of solid fat. But the growing link between excessive solid (saturated and trans ) fat consumption has led to governments limiting their use in formulations and the drive to find alternatives that produce the same functions of solid fats without the nega tive health impacts (https://tinyurl.com/295c83ct). Accompanying a global cocoa shortage caused by changing growing sea sons because of climate change and increasing supply costs, the demand for functional solid fat alternatives continues to grow worldwide. (https://www. jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/commodities/cocoa-prices).

• Oleogels are a promising alternative to solid fats, imparting solid-like properties on oils without the associated health risks of saturated fats. • However, they are not a one-for-one replacement of a fat’s functional properties and have experienced slow uptake by the food industry. • Particle suspensions can gel edible oils and offer a new means for tuning oleogel functional according to the food application. • This innovation expands the field

of oleogelation and offers an opportunity to create new soft materials.

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Fat supply delivered to households per capita in 2021. Does not indicate consumption nor account for food waste. Source: https://tinyurl.com/2kzwdpyt