Wax-Based Oleogels

Oleogels (or organogels), which are made with vegetable oils or fish oils and have similar physical properties to conventional solid fats with highly saturated fats, can be incorporated in a variety of foods in place of conventional fats to promote the health benefits of unsaturated fatty acids. Wax-based oleogels (wax oleogels) have some advantages over other kinds of oleogels including low critical gelation concentration, high gel strength, high physical and oxidative stability during storage, relatively low effects on sensory properties of foods, and potential additional health benefits of waxes. Waxes form a dense network of platelet crystals where oil is entrapped. Faster cooling rates during gel formation can produce denser networks of these platelet wax crystals in wax oleogels, which result in increased gel strength. Overall properties of wax oleogels indicate their high potential as alternatives to solid fats rich in saturated fatty acids in food products. This chapter summarizes the recent advances in wax oleogels focusing on the effects of wax types, oils, and polar compounds in oil on the oleogel properties as well as the sensory and other properties of recently developed oleogel-containing food products compared to those with conventional fats.