Rice bran wax oleogel: A potential margarine replacement and its digestibility effect in rats fed a high-fat diet

Rice bran wax (RBW) rice bran oil (RBO) oleogel is an alternative structured fat used to replace saturated and trans fats. Our study investigated the effects of the RBW crystal network structure of oleogel on lipid digestibility compared with margarine (MG) and beef tallow. After high-fat diet feeding for 4 weeks, the RBW RBO oleogel group showed a decrease in adipose tissue accumulation, triacylglycerol (TAG) levels in serum and liver and total cholesterol (TC) in liver, an increase in excreted TAG, TC and bile acid contents in faeces, and reduced alanine aminotransferase and total bilirubin levels compared with the control and MG groups. Oleogel decreased TAG levels by around 30% in serum and liver and increased excreted TAG levels by 30% in faeces compared with rats fed the individual components (RBW and RBO). These results suggest that the gel network is a key contributor to the decrease in lipid digestibility.