Given the high content of unsaturated fatty acids that high oleic sunflower oil has and thinking in terms of healthiness and innovation, this study aimed to characterize organogels and to investigate the effect of the addition of organogels in chocolate spreads to reduce saturated fatty acids (SFA). The characterization of the organogels was carried out in terms of solids fat content (SFC), crystallization kinetics, thermal behavior, polymorphism, microstructure, hardness, and rheological properties. The organogels analysed showed 5.22% to 6.20% solids at 10 °C, melted at 45 °C, and dropped to < 2.34% at 37.5 °C. Induction time was 4 to 8 minutes, with max solids at 2.29% to 4.72%. The melting and crystallization curves could be subdivided into different regions, which reflected the different classes of triacylglycerol present in the organogels. All organogels showed β polymorphism. The average diameter of the organogels was less than 30 μm, thus minimizing the perception of grittiness in the mouth resulting from the lipid phase. Hardness values varied between 3.53 and 4.58 N. The elastic modulus (G’) value was greater than the viscous modulus (G”), indicating the behavior of a solid material. The results of chocolate spreads were characterized by consistency, distribution particle size, rheological properties and dynamic turbidimetry. The range of consistency of spreads ranged from 13.83 to 631.60 gF. All chocolate spreads formulated with organogels showed particle size between 14.59 and 46.23 µm at index d 0.5 and d 0.9, respectively. As for the rheological parameters, the G' value was observed superior to G”, indicating properties of solid materials. The chocolate spreads with organogels analyzed showed characteristic stability. There was no exudation of liquid oil in the stabilization period for 36 days, thus the chocolate spreads showed a predominant elastic behavior. This characterization proves to be fundamental for the reformulation of products in terms of greater healthiness.

Understanding the crystallization behavior of fats and oils is essential to ensure certain desirable characteristics in a given industrial application. In recent years, some advances in the structuring of lipid phases have enabled a direct influence on the food properties. The structuring mechanisms of lipid bases can be classified as either conventional or unconventional. Conventional crystallization mechanisms consist of nucleation, growth, and maturation of the crystals, thus resulting in a crystalline lattice. Co-crystallization or seeding agents and emerging technologies such as ultrasound can be used to aid in crystallization and improve the physical properties of fats and oils. Unconventional mechanisms bring organogel technology as a trend, which consists in the use of self-assembly agents to entrap the liquid oil, resulting in a structured gel network. In this chapter, the formation process of crystalline networks and gel networks will be presented in stages, highlighting the main differences related to the mechanisms of formation and stabilization of both types of networks.

The need to reduce the amount of dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA), made the search for replacements for these fats a very important field for research. At the search for such replacements the organogel technology has shown great potential. This study had the objective of produce reduced SFA margarines using organogel technology to structure vegetable oils. A laboratory scale process (1kg batch) were performed the margarines were produced using 80% of lipid phase (LP) and their fatty acid composition, spreadability, hardness and thermal stability were evaluated and compared to commercial samples of margarines ranging from 70 to 82% (LP). A experimental design were used to achieve a product similar to the commercial product. Using the analysis of the response surfaces it was possible to observe that the measured spreadability ranged from 0.44 up to 11.12 kg.s for the tested margarines, and from 2.46 to 3.63 kg.s for the commercial samples respectively. 0.35 up to 7.37 kg from for the consistency (1.89 – 2.78 kg for commercial samples) and 1.23 up to 35.97 N for hardness (5.78 – 7.84 N for commercial samples), based on such results a optimized formulation were produced using soybean oil and high oleic sunflower oil to achieve the same properties as the commercial products. In conclusion, it was possible to produce margarines, using organogels for oil structuring.