The choice of antioxidant to be used in the formulation of an oleogel is crucial to determine its oxidative stability and functionality, as these factors can also affect the physical, chemical, and rheological properties of the oleogel. In this study, the effect of two antioxidants (ascorbic acid, AA, and alpha-tocopherol, AT) and their concentration (0.01, 0.02, and 0.03%) on the physical and chemical properties of beeswax and canola oil oleogels were evaluated. The results show that the type and concentration of antioxidants did not affect the thermal properties of the samples, and in FTIR analyses, no noticeable changes in spectra patterns are observed. Rheological analyses showed that the oleogels containing AA exhibited higher elasticity and resistance to deformation. Accelerated oxidative stability tests (storage at 50 °C and the Rancimat test) showed that AA effectively delayed oxidation. The induction time increased by 2.61-fold at higher concentrations, while AT did not significantly affect oxidation resistance. Overall, it was observed that AA improved oleogel firmness and OBC (up to 1.75-fold and 2.8%, respectively), whereas AT resulted in a softer and less stable gel structure. These results show the importance of antioxidant selection, indicating that hydrophilic antioxidants have promising applications in the formulation of beeswax oleogels.

Vegetable oils structured with natural wax blends have attracted increasing interest due to their tunable crystallization and gelling behavior. This study evaluated the structuring of chia oil (ChO) using low concentrations (1–5%) of a shellac wax (SW) and beeswax (BW) blend in a 1:1 ratio, focusing on physicochemical, viscoelastic, and thixotropic properties. ChO structured with 1% SW/BW formed a weak network with high oil loss, whereas concentrations of 3–5% formed denser networks, resulting in OBC values of 75.6–88.4% and firmness values of 16.9–55.1 g. Structuring with 5% SW/BW significantly reduced peroxide values (p < 0.05), indicating a reduction in oxidative deterioration after oleogelation, while concentrations of 1–3% had no significant effect (p > 0.05). Although induction periods were slightly extended in structured samples, differences across oleogelant concentrations were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Rheological analysis revealed that 3–5% SW/BW-structured ChO exhibited semisolid gel behavior, characterized by enhanced deformation resistance and thermal stability. Thixotropic recovery tests revealed that structural recovery improved as the deformation amplitude decreased within the linear viscoelastic range, suggesting that thixotropic behavior was influenced by oleogelant concentration. These findings demonstrate the potential of SW/BW-structured ChO as fat alternatives in lipid-based foods that require mechanical resilience, structural recovery, and enhanced oxidative stability, even at low wax levels.

The objective of this study was to develop chia oil oleogel microcapsules by spray-drying Pickering emulsions (OLG/W–E) stabilized with lupin protein aggregates (LPA), optimize spray-drying conditions, and evaluate the effect of wall composition on encapsulation efficiency (EE) and in vitro lipid digestion. Oleogels structured with beeswax (BW) and shellac wax (SW) at 2.5 and 5.0% (w/w) were characterized for oil-binding capacity (OBC) and firmness. OLG/W–E were formulated, and spray drying was optimized using a Taguchi design considering inlet air temperature (120 and 160 °C), emulsion type (OLG_SW/W–E and OLG_BW/W–E), and wall material (maltodextrin, MD, and gum arabic, GA). Increasing wax concentration to 5% enhanced OBC and firmness, while 3% LPA provided adequate stability. The optimal condition was achieved at 160 °C using a BW-structured oleogel and GA, yielding an EE of 71.3 ± 1.25%. Under optimized conditions, replacing GA with up to 1% (w/w) sodium alginate (SA) did not significantly affect moisture content, solubility, process yield, or EE (p > 0.05). However, SA significantly increased lipid digestion (p < 0.05), with FFA release increasing from 26.4 ± 3.23% for GA microcapsules to 44.8 ± 6.33% and 43.4 ± 0.30% for GA/SA–0.5% and GA/SA–1.0%, respectively. These results indicate that SA can modulate lipid digestion during gastrointestinal digestion while maintaining comparable physicochemical properties.