Fat for the Future: Designing Multifunctional Molecular Oleogels As Trans Fat Alternative

Promotion of public health by delivering healthy food is a subject of research with national importance. Fats are among the most vital macronutrients in our diet as they could influence the organoleptic properties of the foods. New regulations have brought new challenges in structuring vegetable oils without any chemical modification. This led to the development of other alternatives and, among them, “oleogels”, a potential strategy that could form bulk fats via physical structuring of vegetable oils by eliminating trans fats. The crystalline composition of oil-based formulations greatly impacts the aesthetic and textural properties of gel and cream formulations. The present research discusses using the self-assembly concept of nanotechnology to develop healthy and amphiphilic oil-structuring agents in food engineering and for personal care products. By conjugating active substrates to develop an array of molecular gelators they serve as programmed functional materials derived from biomass. Chosen precursors for oil gelling amphiphiles (medium chain fatty acids and non-reducing sugars) are FDA approved and GRAS materials; hence the amphiphiles are non-toxic and exhibited high cell viability at concentration 50 μg/mL. Sugar-based gelators readily formed nanoscale lamellar structures to form a coherent network at very low concentrations (1-3% wt/v), which congeal a wide range of lipophilic oils. The efficiency was computed in terms of mechanical, thermal and structural properties and found to be a function of type and concentration of structuring agents. Select examples of biocatalytically enabled molecular gelators and their oleogels will be discussed. By developing structuring alternatives to chemically processed oil formulations of the future will not only be sustainable, but tailored by structure to function as needed. Keywords: Oleogels, Self-Assembly, Oil Structuring Agents, Trans fat Alternatives, Naturally Derived, Sustainable