Effect of Potato Starch Hydrogel:Glycerol Monostearate Oleogel Ratio on the Physico-Rheological Properties of Bigels.

Bigel (BG) has been shown to be promising for the food industry due to the possibility to manipulate the properties of the system by adjusting the ratio of each individual phase, namely the hydrogel (H) and oleogel (O) phases. This work aimed to evaluate the influence of the O:H ratio on the physical-rheological properties of BG produced with potato starch (PS) and glycerol monostearate (GM). The hydrogel hardness (i.e., 1423.47 g) directly influenced the viscosity of the BG samples, as BG with a higher H-phase presented the highest viscosity and firmness. All BG samples presented shear-thinning behavior and structural breakdown at ~50 °C. BG with a higher O-phase had superior results for thermal stability, softer texture, and yield stress values, representative of good plasticity and spreadability, as compared to BG with less O-phase. The BG with 80% H-phase was less stable during the 21 days of storage in relation to the other BG samples. This study showed the role that the O:H ratio plays in the development of PS-GM-based BGs with tailor-made physical-rheological properties. In addition, the BG is an easily reproduced system with great potential to be used as a trans and saturated fat substitute in food applications.

Chickpea Aquafaba-Based Emulsions as a Fat Replacer in Pound Cake: Impact on Cake Properties and Sensory Analysis.

This study evaluates the use of chickpea aquafaba (CA)-based emulsions as a potential substitute for palm oil (PO), using pound cake as a case study. The CA was characterized in terms of pH (6.38 ± 0.01), density (1.02 g mL-1 ± 0.01), color, total soluble solids (6.3 ± 0.2 °Bx), total solids (5.7 ± 0.2%), thermal properties through DSC, and apparent viscosity (2.5 cPa·s-1 ± 0.02 at 300 s-1). Emulsions containing 35, 30, and 25% of CA were produced and applied to cake formulation C1, C2, and C3, respectively. The cake batter was evaluated in terms of apparent density (0.87-1.04 g1 cm-3), rheology, and pH (6.6-6.8). The cakes were evaluated for specific volume, baking loss (8.9-9.5%), color, and symmetry index on day 1, and firmness, water activity (aw), and moisture content (%), after 14 days of storage. The cakes produced with the emulsions were found to have slightly higher specific volume (2.3 cm3 g-1) when compared to the control (C4) produced with PO (2.2 cm3 g-1). The moisture and aw decreased and firmness increased during storage. In terms of formulation (i.e., day 1 for C1, C2, C3, and C4), there was no significant difference for moisture. As for aw, the C4 (0.90) was significantly different from the cakes produced with emulsions (0.91-0.92). The results from the sensory evaluation, carried out with 120 panelists, showed no statistically significant difference between C3 and C4 for the attributes of aroma, color, texture, flavor, and overall impression. Based on our results, it appears that the CA-based emulsions have the potential to replace PO in pound-cake recipes, reducing total and saturated fat.

Storage Stability of Conventional and High Internal Phase Emulsions Stabilized Solely by Chickpea Aquafaba.

Aquafaba is a liquid residue of cooked pulses, which is generally discarded as waste. However, it is rich in proteins and, thus, can be used as a plant-based emulsifier to structure vegetable oil. This study investigates chickpea aquafaba (CA) as an agent to structure different oil phase volumes (Φ) of canola oil (CO). CO was structured in the form of conventional emulsions (EΦ65% and EΦ70%) and high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) (EΦ75%) by the one-pot homogenization method. Emulsions were evaluated for a period of 60 days at 25 °C in terms of average droplet size (11.0−15.9 µm), microscopy, rheological properties, and oil loss (<1.5%). All systems presented predominantly elastic behavior and high resistance to coalescence. EΦ75% was the most stable system throughout the 60 days of storage. This study developed an inexpensive and easy to prepare potential substitute for saturated and trans-fat in food products. Moreover, it showed a valuable utilization of an often-wasted by-product and its conversion into a food ingredient.

Characterization of Capsicum oleoresin microparticles and in vivo evaluation of short-term capsaicin intake.

Gum arabic, modified corn starch (EMCAP), modified malt (MALT), either blended or isolated, were assessed as encapsulating agents for Capsicum oleoresin. Capsicum oleoresin microparticles were obtained by spray drying and analysed for physicochemical properties and in vivo. Obtained powders were adequate for storage, given their low water activity (<0.150), hygroscopicity (<11.43 g/100 g), moisture (<4.76%) and high glass transition temperature (<98.3 °C). FT-IR analysis concluded that carbohydrates matrices were loaded after spray drying, with peaks around 2850 cm -1 for aromatic compounds, and bands around 1760 cm-1, pointing to the presence of capsaicin inside the microparticles. All formulations exhibited high antioxidant activity, low contact angles and great solubility in water. Any adverse effect was observed in the experimental assay, neither change on the level of hepatic aminotransferases. The intake of a High-Fat Diet (HFD) supplemented with Capsicum oleoresin microparticles decreased weight gain when compared to the HFD control.