Structuring low-density lipoprotein-based oleogels with pectin via an emulsion-templated approach: Formation and characterization

Due to the adverse health effects associated with saturated and trans fats, novel oleogels based on egg yolk low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and pectin (PE) as solid fat substitutes were developed using the emulsion-template method. This method involves structuring an oil-in-water emulsion with LDL and PE, followed by evaporation of the aqueous phase, resulting in the entrapment of liquid oil within a crystal network. In addition, the methodology evaluated the impacts of pH and PE/LDL mass ratio on the microstructure, physicochemical properties, and stability of the prepared emulsions and their corresponding oleogels. The PE/LDL complex-based emulsions exhibited small droplet size (9.95 and 9.67 μm), pronounced gel-like structure, and high viscosity and stability at optimum pH (6.0) and PE/LDL ratio (1:5), respectively. FTIR results emphasized that electrostatic interactions played more significant roles than hydrogen bonding in the interactions between the carboxyl group of PE and the amino group of LDL. Besides, the oleogels, based on LDL/PE-stabilized emulsions, showed a unique crystal structure and moderate rheological and textural properties, resulting in an increased oil-binding capacity of 83.74%. In conclusion, the unique aspect of this study was the combination of these biopolymers, which could have great potential for creating oleogels from edible oils using an emulsion-templated method. Thereby, these results could provide a novel approach for producing high-quality oleogels from LDL and PE for food applications.