Thermal and textural properties of organogels developed by candelilla wax in safflower oil

We investigated organogel formation in dispersions of CW in safflower oil (SFO). Candelilla wax (CW) has as its main component hentriacontane (78.9%), a n-alkane with self assembly properties in organic solvents (i.e., vegetable oils). Results showed that, independent of the cooling rate (i.e., 1 degrees C/min and 10 degrees C/min) and gel setting temperature (T-set), the CW organogels observed a thermoreversible behavior. This was evaluated by the behavior of thermal parameters that characterized organogel formation (gelation temperature, T-g; heat of gelation, Delta H-g) and melting (melting temperature, T-p; heat of melting, Delta H-M) after two heating-cooling cycles. For a given CW concentration (i.e., 0.5, 1.0, and 3%), the magnitude of Delta H-M and T-p and the structural organization of the organogel, depended on the cooling rate, the thermodynamic drive force for gelation, and the annealing process occurring at high T-set (i.e., 25 degrees C). At T-set of 25 degrees C the microplatelet units that formed the organogel aggregated as a function of storage time, a process that resulted in an increase in organogel hardness. In contrast, at T-set of 5 degrees C annealing occurred in a limited extent, but gels had higher solid fat content and microplatelet units of a smaller size than the gels obtained at 25 degrees C. The result was a three-dimensional network with greater hardness than the one obtained at 25 degrees C. The 3% CW organogels showed no phase separation up to 3 months at room temperature, with textures of potential use by the food industry.