Hydrocolloid coated oleosomes for development of oleogels

Oleosomes are a micron sized mass of oil droplets enclosed by a specific membrane of protein-phospholipid mixtures typically found in plants and microorganisms to serve as an energy reserve for potential needs. Interest in plant-derived oleosomes in the food industry has recently grown significantly, as these unique natural emulsions are made of unrefined natural oil phase. In a similar way, there is also significant interest in converting liquid oil emulsions into soft solid oleogel structures through physical trapping with water-soluble biopolymers. Natural oleosome suspensions were stabilized with xanthan and pectin hydrocolloids and converted for the first time in this study into oleosome templated oleogel structures. 1–1.5% of hydrocolloid was sufficient to encapsulate oleosomes when electrostatic deposition was used and upon drying a soft solid structure was obtained. Oleosomes coated with xanthan gum resulted in oleogels structures with higher firmness and elastic modulus values compared pectin coated samples. These findings provided novel information in designing the gels structures composed of unrefined, natural oil in the form of oleosomes.