Characterization of Orange Oil Powders and Oleogels Fabricated from Emulsion Templates Stabilized Solely by a Natural Triterpene Saponin

Abstract

A new facile route was reported to use the natural triterpene Quillaja saponin (QS)-stabilized orange emulsions as a template for the development of flavor oil powders and oleogels achieved by the tunable oil fraction and drying mode. A fibrosis network interfacial film from self-assembly of QS at the oil–water interface possibility contributed to the fabrication of stable emulsion precursors and subsequent oil powder and oleogels by packing oil droplets in the network structure. An oil powder containing as high as 93 wt % orange oil was obtained by spray drying, showing excellent stability, flowability, and reconstitution ability. Upon the medium water removal rate of freeze drying, porous structured solid products followed by oleogels by a simple shearing can be formed. Upon oven drying, a translucent oleogel with high oil loading of 98.2 wt % was obtained from the high internal phase emulsion template. The resulting oleogels showed tunable rheological and texture properties, thixotropic recovery by modulating the oil fraction and water evaporation rate, and reversibility to reconstituted emulsions. Structuring liquid oil into solid materials by simply drying the continuous water from solely QS-based emulsions is very encouraging and provides new insights into various functional applications in the fields of foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and agriculture.