Waxes used as structuring agents for food organogels: A Review

Abstract

Lipids are key ingredients in the human diet. Because of the manipulation and modification of lipids in the food industry, the amount of trans and saturated fat has been substantially increasing in industri-alized products. At the same time, the number of studies demonstrating the harmful effects of these foods on human health has increased. Organogels arise as a promising alternative for replacing trans and saturated fat in processed foods. Among the main challenges of preparing an organogel is the difficulty of finding compatible and viable structuring agents in the food industry. Waxes have been studied for this purpose and are one of the most promising organogelators. This article brings a bibliographical review on the recent studies regarding the use of waxes as structuring agents for edible vegetable oils.