Production of food-grade cellulose-based hydrogels: Characterization, application, and storage stability.

• Grant number: 24/17348-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Support Program for Fixating Young Doctors
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Miriam Dupas Hubinger
• Grantee: Lívia Alves Barroso
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 24/02188-1 - Production of food-grade cellulose-based hydrogels: Characterization, application, and storage stability., AP.R

Abstract

The technology of oil structuring shows promise for the food industry; the ability to transform liquid vegetable oils into a stable structure without the formation of undesirable fats allows for a wide range of applications. The combination of pure gels, hydrogel with oleogel, provides a biphasic system called bigel. This structured system is considered relatively new for food applications and has demonstrated promising properties in terms of firmness, room temperature stability, texture, as well as the ability to incorporate lipophilic and hydrophilic actives. In this project, we propose to explore the influence of using cellulose polymers in bigel formation. To obtain the bigels, the oleogel phase will be fixed using soybean oil and glycerol monostearate. For the hydrogel phase, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and methylcellulose will be used as hydrogelators. The bigels will be formulated and characterized for rheological, textural, thermal, fatty acid composition, phase separation, and stability properties. The results will contribute to understanding this system with the potential to be a substitute for fats in margarine.