Zein based oil-in-glycerol emulgels enriched with β-carotene as margarine alternatives

Structuring edible oils into solid lipids without saturated and trans fats has attracted increasing interest due to the benefits for human health and promises potential as novel delivery systems for lipophilic bioactive ingredients. The study shows that a zein stabilized high (phi = 0.6) oil-in-glycerol (O/G) emulgels enriched with beta-carotene was performed, by a facile one-step homogenization. Rheological measurements and morphologies observations indicated that increasing beta-carotene resulted in a progressive strengthening of gel-like network and improving their spreadability in the O/G emulgels stabilized by zein, which was closely related to the hydrophobic interaction of zein and beta-carotene. The formation of emulgels significantly enhanced the UV photo-stability of beta-carotene, and more than 88% of beta-carotene was retained in 64 h storage under UV exposure, and consequently retarded oil oxidation while storage. Further, cakes prepared using zein-based O/G emulgels as a margarine alternative showed comparable functionalities (texture and sensory attributes) to the standard cake. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.