Cooling Rate Effects on the Microstructure, Solid Content, and Rheological Properties of Organogels of Amides Derived from Stearic and (R)-12-Hydroxystearic Acid in Vegetable Oil

Using safflower oil as the liquid phase, we investigated the organogelation properties of stearic acid (SA), (R)-12-hydroxystearic acid (HSA), and different primary and secondary amides synthesized from SA and HSA. The objective was to establish the relationship between the gelator's molecular structure, solid content, and gels' microstructure that determines the rheological properties of organogels developed at two cooling rates, 1 and 20 degrees C/min. The results showed that the presence of a 12-OH group in the gelator molecule makes its crystallization kinetics cooling rate dependent and modifies its crystallization behavior. Thus, SA crystallizes as large platelets, while HSA crystallizes as fibers forming gels with higher solid content, particularly at 20 degrees C/min. The addition to HSA of a primary or a secondary amide bonded with an alkyl group resulted in gelator molecules that crystallized as fibrillar spherulites at both cooling rates. Independent of the cooling rate, gels of HSA and its amide derivatives showed thixotropic behavior. The rheological properties of the amide's organogels depend on a balance between hydrogen-bonding sites and the alkyl chain length bonded to the amide group. However, it might also be associated with the effect that the gelators' molecular weight has on crystal growth and its consequence on fiber interpenetration among vicinal spherulites. These results were compared with those obtained with candelilla wax (CW), a well-known edible gelling additive used by the food industry. CW organogels had higher elasticity than HSA gels but lower than the gels formed by amides. Additionally, CW gels showed similar or even higher thixotropic behavior than HSA and the amide's gels. These remarkable rheological properties resulted from the microstructural organization of CW organogels. We concluded that microstructure has a more important role determining the organogels' rheology than the solid content. The fitting models developed to describe the organogels rheological behavior support this argument.