Conjugated safflower seed oil and its oleogels stabilization properties: Thermodynamic properties, rheology, oxidative stability

Conjugated safflower seed oil (CSSO) was used as the base oil, and beeswax (BW) was used as the gelling agent to prepare BW-CSSO oleogel. The effects of different additions of wax on the properties of BW-CSSO oleogel, as well as their oxidative stability, were investigated. The results indicated that an oleogel could be formed with CSSO at a BW concentration of 5 wt% at 25 °C, and the oil-holding capacity and hardness of the oleogel increased significantly as the BW concentration increased from 5 wt% to 11 wt%. Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the peak crystallization and melting temperatures of the oleogel generally increased with the increase of wax addition, and both the crystallization and melting peaks became clearer and sharper. The rheological results indicated that all the samples showed shear-thinning behavior and higher concentrations of BW-CSSO oleogel were more capable of forming robust structures with lower frequency dependence. The free fatty acid release rate from BW-CSSO oleogel decreased with increasing BW concentration because the oleogel was stronger due to the formation of a more robust network, and the network of strong crystals influences the contact between lipase and oil, slowing down the release of oil from the interior of the oleogel structure and affecting the hydrolysis of oil. The network structure of the oleogel could inhibit the generation of CSSO secondary oxidation products and improve the oxidative stability of CSSO. This study provides the relevant parameters of the BW-CSSO oleogel and lays the foundation for subsequent studies.