Because
of health obvious reasons the scientists and the food industry have strong
interest to replace saturated triglycerides or margarines in diet and in food
products.
In the course of our studies on food "oleogels", we found that ternary mixtures of surfactant, oil and solvent: cosolvent (wt% 3:1 and 1:1) increased significantly the gel phase but influenced little the isotropic region at 25 and 37 oC.
The effect of a cosolvent on the structure was studied by Cross Polarized Light Microscopy (CPLM), Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS), Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and rheology measurements. Results from surfactant, oil and solvent: cosolvent system, dilution line 8:2 (wt% 1:0, 3:1, 1:1) showed the presence of hexagonal (HII) mesophases. Rheology measurements revealed visco-elastic properties of lyotropic liquid crystals and, addition of cosolvent to the system, resulted in a decrease in the complex viscocity η*.
The present study indicated the existence of ternary oleogel systems, using a cosolvent in the inner phase as solvent replacement, useful as fat replacers for the food industry.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Nissim Garti
garti@vsm.huji.ac.il
