Characterization of mixed-component oleogels: Beeswax and glycerol monostearate interactions towards Tenebrio Molitor larvae oil.

Edible insects are attracting attention as an alternative food due to their excellent production efficiency, lower carbon consumption, and containing high protein. Tenebrio Molitor larvae (TM), one of the approved edible insects worldwide, contain more than 30 % fat content consisting of 70 % unsaturated fatty acids, and particularly high phospholipids. Most of the research has focused on the utilization of proteins, and there are few studies using oils from TM. Therefore, in this study, to expand the utilization of TM oil in food applications, the oleogel was prepared with TM oil fortified by the incorporation of beeswax (BSW) and glycerol monostearate (GMS), and their structure, rheological and thermal properties were evaluated. The interaction between BSW and GMS contributed to the strength of the oleogel structure. The addition of GMS or the increase of the gelator concentrations resulted in increasing the melting point, which is consistent with the observed increase in viscoelasticity. As the temperature increased, the solid fat content decreased. The result of FT-IR suggests that TM oil is physically solidified without changing chemical composition through oleogelation. This study suggests a new processing direction for edible insects by confirming the rheological, thermal, and physicochemical characteristics of TM oil-based oleogel.

Development of an Emulsion Gel Containing Peanut Sprout Oil as a Fat Replacer in Muffins: Physicochemical, Tomographic, and Texture Properties.

Peanut sprouts are known to increase their resveratrol content during germination, leading to cultivation in smart farms. Recently, peanut sprout oil extraction and sales have gained traction; however, processed foods utilizing peanut sprout oil have yet to be developed. In this study, water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion gels were structured with water, peanut sprout oil (PSO), sorbitan monostearate (SMS), and candelilla wax (CW) in different ratios, and their potential as shortening substitutes in muffins was evaluated on physicochemical and sensory properties. PSO comprised 67% unsaturated fatty acids and had higher phospholipid (17.97%) and resveratrol (15.95 µg/L) contents and antioxidant activity (71.52%) compared to peanut oil. The PSO emulsion gels were physically structured without changing their chemical compositions. The SMS and CW ratios were found to have a significant influence on the textural properties, solid fat content, rheology, and crystallization of the emulsion gels. The viscoelastic properties of the emulsion gels showed a higher storage modulus than loss modulus and increased with increasing gelator content. Muffins prepared with emulsion gels were characterized by a harder texture and larger pore size, while in the case of muffins mixed with a ratio of 25% SMS and 75% CW, there was no significant difference in overall preference of sensory evaluation compared to shortening muffins. Thus, these findings reveal the potential utility of PSO as a fat substitute and indicate that W/O emulsion gels are suitable for producing muffins without a loss of quality.

The Characteristic of Insect Oil for a Potential Component of Oleogel and Its Application as a Solid Fat Replacer in Cookies.

The larvae of Tenebrio molitor, an edible insect, have recently attracted attention in the food industry as a protein supplement or future food material. However, despite more than 30% of the total weight being fat content, few studies have been conducted on the fat (oil) derived from Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM oil) and its food utilization. In this study, TM oil was extracted and its fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity were investigated. Then, the oleogels were prepared with TM oil and oleogelators (candelilla wax, carnauba wax, and beeswax) and their rheological and thermal properties were evaluated to elucidate their utilization as a solid fat replacer in cookies. In the results, TM oil contained 73.6% unsaturated fatty acids and showed a lower antioxidant activity than olive oil. Although the highest hardness was shown in oleogel with candelilla wax, the highest viscoelasticity above 50 °C was observed for oleogel with carnauba wax. The highest melting point was observed in carnauba oleogel. Lower peroxide values were observed in the oleogel samples than for TM oil, indicating that oleogelation of structuring oil improved the oxidative stability of TM oil. In addition, the shortening replacement with carnauba wax oleogel showed a desirable cookie quality in terms of spreadability and texture properties.

Development of Antioxidant-Fortified Oleogel and Its Application as a Solid Fat Replacer to Muffin.

Oleogelation has recently received a great deal of attention in the food industry as a novel alternative technology that physically converts liquid oil into semi-solid gel. Since the functional characteristics of oleogels are dependent on the gelators or bioactive compounds incorporated, this study was undertaken to evaluate the rheological properties and oxidative stability of candelilla wax oleogels fortified with glycerol monostearate (GMS) and ß-carotene, and also to investigate their applications to muffin as a shortening replacer. The interaction between candelilla wax and GMS contributed to strengthening the oleogel structure. The oleogels with ß-carotene showed the lowest peroxide values than the other samples. The muffins prepared with oleogels for shortening had greater specific gravity and harder texture, but there was no significant difference in the specific volume between the shortening and oleogel samples with GMS. In addition, muffins with ß-carotene oleogels showed the highest oxidative stability. Therefore, this study indicated that the incorporation of ß-carotene and GMS in oleogels positively affected the storage stability of muffin.

Anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory effects of ginseng vinegar in high-fat diet fed mice.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of ginseng vinegar (GV) for preventing and ameliorating the obesity and inflammation. Oral administrations of GV with different doses were conducted for 10 weeks in the preventive model and therapeutic model. In the preventive model, above GV-medium dose significantly reduced body weight gain, epididymal fat weight, triglycerides, and total cholesterol compared to control. GV-high dose effectively improved the inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6) in serum, liver, and adipose tissue. In the therapeutic model, all GV groups showed significantly decreased body weight gain, epididymal fat weight, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Reductions of the TNF-α level in the serum and liver were observed in all GV groups, and the CRP levels in the liver of all GV groups were significantly decreased with different trend from the preventive model. These results suggest that GV is more effective in therapeutic model and is a potential food for obesity and associated inflammation.

Optical, rheological, thermal, and microstructural elucidation of rutin enrichment in Tartary buckwheat flour by hydrothermal treatments.

Tartary buckwheat grains were subjected to hydrothermal treatments (steaming/boiling/autoclaving) whose effects on rutin enrichment in the buckwheat flour by rutin migration from the bran fraction were investigated in terms of optical, rheological, thermal, and microstructural properties. The highest amount of rutin was observed in the bran out of the native milling fractions (hull, bran, and flour). The hydrothermal treatments however increased the level of rutin in the flour, even showing a higher level of rutin than the bran in the autoclaved sample. Furthermore, rutin in the hydrothermally-treated flours was not degraded into quercetin by mixing with water. Scanning electron microscopic images demonstrated that the granules of buckwheat starch round in shape and grouped in lumps were disrupted by the hydrothermal treatments. The rutin contents of the buckwheat flour samples were linearly well-correlated with their pasting profiles (peak viscosity), colors (L and b values), and thermal parameters (gelatinization enthalpy and temperature).

Feasibility of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose oleogel as an animal fat replacer for meat patties.

Canola oil was successfully structured with foam-structured hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) into solid-like oleogels, and the feasibility of the HPMC oleogels as a replacement for animal fat (beef tallow) was evaluated to reduce the level of saturated fat in meat patties. The textural properties (firmness and work of shear) of HPMC oleogels were higher than those of beef tallow and had a tendency to increase with increasing levels of HPMC in the oleogels. HPMC oleogels behaved rheologically like an elastic gel and also exhibited temperature-independent solid fat contents. They exhibited greater resistance against oxidation than the canola oil under the accelerated storage condition. When the beef tallow in the formulation of meat patties was replaced with HPMC oleogels at 50% and 100%, the cooking loss of the patties was significantly reduced, and their texture became much softer. Furthermore, the sensory evaluation indicated that the highest overall acceptability was attained at the 50% replacement level. The replacement of beef tallow with HPMC oleogels was significantly effective in reducing the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat from 0.73 to 0.18, consequently producing meat patties with nutritional superiority.

Rheological characterization of levan polysaccharides from Microbacterium laevaniformans.

Levan polysaccharides were produced from Microbacterium laevaniformans and its rheological behaviors were characterized as a function of concentration and temperature. The intrinsic viscosity of the purified levan was determined to be 0.38dL/g at 25 degrees C which was relatively higher than that of levans from other microbial sources. The flow behaviors of the levan solutions were characterized by the increase in the shear stress, giving more increments in the shear rate. Thus, the levan solutions exhibited the pseudoplastic behavior, which was characterized by the power law model. In addition, the flow behaviors of the levans were satisfactorily fitted to the Arrhenius equation where the activation energy of flow (Ea) decreased from 24.07 to 13.53kJ/mol (R2=0.98-0.99) with increasing concentrations. Moreover, the exponential equation was favorably applied to describe the effect of concentration on the apparent viscosity of the levan polysaccharides.