Development of behenic acid-ethyl cellulose oleogel stabilized Pickering emulsions as low calorie fat replacer

This study investigated the optimization of thermal, functional and rheological properties of Ethyl Cellulose (EC)-based oleogel considering different concentrations of Behenic Acid (BA) and stability of water in oleogel (w/og) emulsions. The results showed that the combination of EC and BA improved the oleogel properties at specific ratios (2:4 and 1:5 wt%). High strength (G' > 1000 mPa) with good thermo-responsive and viscoelastic behavior in the range of 45-60 °C and low loss of oil (<0.2%) were observed in these oleogel formulations. Polarized light microscopy images and XRD results showed the presence of crystals and high proportion of crystalline regions in the mentioned formulations. There were no significant differences among solid fat content (SFC) of EC contained oleogels. The FTIR results indicated new hydrogen bonds formation. The w/og stabilized emulsions with EC: BA (1:5 wt%) oleogel showed high physical stability even at high ratios of disperse phase (5 to 45 wt% of water). The particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) of emulsions were reduced significantly to 250 nm and 0.19, respectively by increasing the ratio of water phase to 45:55 w/og. The oleogel and developed Pickering w/og emulsion has good potential in the formulation of low calorie food products.