A scalable and eco-friendly carbohydrate-based oleogelator for vitamin E controlled delivery

Supramolecular oleogels, in which low-molecular weight oleogelators self-assemble into various nanostructures through non-covalent interactions, have witnessed increasing research activity in various fields of science, including food, cosmetics or remediation of marine oil spills. Herein, we report a simple scalable and environmentally friendly carbohydrate-based oleogelator, namely, the sodium salt of N,N'-dimethyl β-C glucosyl barbiturate (GlcBMe) that self-assembles through sonication to induce the gelation of polar organic solvent and later of non-polar vegetable oils by cationic exchange with quaternary ammonium surfactants. Water-soluble GlcBMe was capable of forming self-assembled fibrillar network bridging insoluble particles in the oil by sonication in the presence of a small amount of water. The rheological properties are reinforced by in situ particle bridging with quaternary ammonium surfactants as evidenced by multi-scale structural analyses. IR analysis indicated that -OH (from carbohydrates) and -C[double bond, length as m-dash]O (from barbituric ring) were involved in hydrogen bonding promoting the formation of a fibrous network. The oleogel presented a non-Newtonian system showing a shear-thinning behavior and thixotropic properties. Advantageously, these oleogels showed excellent control and slow release of the loaded-vitamin E in a pH-dependent manner.