Development of healthier and industrially applicable oleogel with low saturated fatty acid content using a small amount of high-melting fat

We aimed to develop a low-saturated fat oleogel with a small amount of high-melting fat and elucidate its gelation mechanism. Fully hydrogenated rapeseed oil rich in behenic acid (FHR-B), fully hydrogenated rapeseed oil rich in stearic acid (FHR-S), fully hydrogenated fish oil extracted from sardines (FHF), fully hydrogenated beef tallow (FHBT), fully hydrogenated palm oil (FHP), and fully hydrogenated hard palm mid-fraction (FHHPMF) were used as oleogelators. The gelation ability, chemical composition, crystal morphology, polymorphism, and melting properties of the prepared samples were evaluated. FHR-B, FHF, FHP, and FHHPMF formed gels with 2 wt% or lower concentrations. High-melting fat with a high gelation ability formed fibrous crystals with a high aspect ratio, that is, whisker crystals, in canola oil. The crystal morphology was affected by the triacylglycerol composition. Moreover, high-temperature storage caused the separation of TAGs, affecting the crystal morphology. Hence, high-melting fats with complex TAG compositions showed different gelation behaviors depending on the storage temperature. We confirmed that FHHPMF exhibited exceptionally high gelation ability, forming a gel at only 0.5 wt%. Therefore, FHHPMF may be a suitable oleogelator for industrial use with a controllable saturated fatty acid content and waxy mouthfeel.