Study on the possibility of developing food-grade hydrophobic bio-aerogels by using an oleogel template approach

The feasibility of producing food-grade hydrophobic bio-aerogels by supercritical-carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) extraction of oil from oleogels was investigated for the first time. Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) oil was gelled using ethylcellulose (EC) at increasing concentration (10, 15, 20% w/w) and grade (EC20, 45, 100), eventually in combination with fillers. Different SC-CO₂ oil extraction procedures were tested. The acquired results show that both oleogel formulation and extraction conditions can steer the EC scaffold structure. The increase in EC concentration and grade resulted in oleogels more structurally stable to SC-CO₂ extraction. The application of a pulsed extraction procedure allowed obtaining a low-density (0.39 ​g/cm³) EC scaffold presenting 60% oil. Addition of freeze dried lettuce powder improved macrostructure homogeneity. The obtained results lay the foundations for developing food-grade hydrophobic bio-aerogels, which are expected to present unique oil absorption and bioactive delivery features.