Rapeseed oleogels based on monoacylglycerols and methylcellulose hybrid oleogelators: Physicochemical and rheological...

In this study, we investigated the combined impact of monoacylglycerol (MAGs) and methylcellulose (MC) on the production of hybrid oleogels. Since cellulose derivatives are inherently hydrophilic substances, they require dissolution in oil through an emulsion-coating method. Therefore, we developed a hybrid oleogel utilizing MAGs and MC. Initially, a hybrid oleogelator was created by blending an aqueous MC solution into fully melted MAGs to form MC in water-in-MAGs emulsions with varying MC/MAG ratios, followed by drying. Subsequently, the resulting oleogelator was mixed with rapeseed oil to produce oleogels, and their properties were compared with oleogels produced solely with MAG oleogelator. The findings indicated that the obtained oleogelator did not significantly impact the oxidation of the oleogels. Additionally, there was no notable difference observed in the induction period of crystallization and the crystallization rate of the oleogels. Microscopic images revealed that the hybrid oleogel structured with a 30:70 ratio of MAGs and MC contained the lowest liquid phase percentage. In terms of rheological assessment, the hybrid oleogels exhibited solid-like behavior, consistent with polarized light microscopy (PLM) images. Furthermore, based on the three-interval thixotropic test (3-ITT), the hybrid oleogels displayed higher recovery compared to the control sample.