Durum wheat oil oleogels: A study on rheological, thermal, and microstructural properties

Durum wheat oil (WO) is a by-product obtained during wheat milling process characterized by higher amount of bioactive compounds. In recent years, oleogelification, a novel technique to structure oils was developed to replace saturated and trans fats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of WO to obtain stable oleogels using two natural waxes (beeswax BW and carnauba wax CW) at different ratio (4, 7 and 8 %, w/w) respect to sunflower oil (SO) used as control. Oleogels were analyzed for fundamental rheological properties, microstructure and oil loss. Results showed as a concentration below 7 %, weak networks were observed for all samples because the predominance of viscous moduli (G’’) over elastic ones (G’) and high oil loss. Nevertheless at 8 % of waxes, stability in terms of all analyzed parameters was highlighted for all samples (WO_BW showed the lowest). Moreover, WO samples with 7 % and 8 % of CW displayed very high stability in terms of all considered parameters, also at high temperatures, showing strong networks and reaching the optimum solid-like gel without significant differences respect to SO one. Obtained results highlighted the WO ability to be employed, as alternative to SO to develop oleogels with optimal performances and stability.