Monoglyceride-structured rubber seed oil oleogels as a partial cocoa butter replacement in chocolate: physical properties, oxidative stability and applications.
- 1Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China.
- 2Natural Rubber Health Industry Technology Innovation Research Institute, Xishuangbanna 666100, China.
- 3China National Research Center for Food Safety Inspection and Testing (China National Research Center for Food Safety HACCP Application), Beijing 100037, China.
Abstract
In this study, rubber seed oil (RSO) was structured into oleogels (RSOOs) using monoglycerides (MG) as a food-grade gelator. The RSO fatty-acid profile was determined by GC/Q-MS. The profile was dominated by C16-C18 species, principally linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, 40.39%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 22.86%) and alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3, 21.72%), together with palmitic (8.23%) and stearic (6.07%) acids; this gave class totals of 14.65% saturated, 23.15% monounsaturated and 62.20% polyunsaturated fatty acids and n-6/n-3 = 1.863. The critical gelation concentration was 5.0 wt% MG at 25 °C. Across the 1-12 wt% MG series, RSOO hardness increased from 20.045 to 1127.846 g and oil-binding capacity (OBC) from 24.92% to 99.87%. FTIR showed no new or lost absorption bands on gelation; small C-H band shifts and an intensified O-H envelope were consistent with van der Waals and hydrogen-bonding interactions supporting a physical network. XRD showed β/β' short spacings whose intensity increased with MG content while polymorph identity remained unchanged. RSOOs were solid-like and thermoreversible. Under accelerated storage (40 °C, dark, 21 days), the 12% MG-RSO accumulated secondary oxidation products (TBARS) less than pure RSO and DPPH radical-scavenging capacity higher than pure RSO, an effect attributed to physical immobilization of the oil and compositional dilution rather than demonstrated intrinsic antioxidant activity. A 7 wt% MG RSOO, selected on the hardness-OBC plateau and on economic grounds, was used to replace 0-100% cocoa butter (CB) in chocolate. The chocolate melt peak shifted from 21.93 °C to 17.84 °C. A practical replacement window of 20-60% retained acceptable thermal stability and sensory quality, with the 20% formulation receiving the highest flavor-balance score. Above 60%, chocolates failed structurally at 30 °C, and 100% replacement collapsed at 25 °C. The results support RSOO as a partial CB replacement within a defined, conservative window.
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BibTeX
@article{huang2026monoglyceridestructured,
title = {{Monoglyceride-structured rubber seed oil oleogels as a partial cocoa butter replacement in chocolate: physical properties, oxidative stability and applications.}},
author = {Zhi Huang and Yaru Tang and Xinru Yang and Dongyan Liu and Yang Liu and Yangfan Ren and Yun Wang and Beibei Zhang and Ji Ma},
journal = {Food chemistry: X},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104594},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908897},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Monoglyceride-structured rubber seed oil oleogels as a partial cocoa butter replacement in chocolate: physical properties, oxidative stability and applications.
AU - Zhi Huang
AU - Yaru Tang
AU - Xinru Yang
AU - Dongyan Liu
AU - Yang Liu
AU - Yangfan Ren
AU - Yun Wang
AU - Beibei Zhang
AU - Ji Ma
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/11
JO - Food chemistry: X
DO - 10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104594
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908897
AB - In this study, rubber seed oil (RSO) was structured into oleogels (RSOOs) using monoglycerides (MG) as a food-grade gelator. The RSO fatty-acid profile was determined by GC/Q-MS. The profile was dominated by C16-C18 species, principally linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, 40.39%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 22.86%) and alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3, 21.72%), together with palmitic (8.23%) and stearic (6.07%) acids; this gave class totals of 14.65% saturated, 23.15% monounsaturated and 62.20% polyunsaturated fatty acids and n-6/n-3 = 1.863. The critical gelation concentration was 5.0 wt% MG at 25 °C. Across the 1-12 wt% MG series, RSOO hardness increased from 20.045 to 1127.846 g and oil-binding capacity (OBC) from 24.92% to 99.87%. FTIR showed no new or lost absorption bands on gelation; small C-H band shifts and an intensified O-H envelope were consistent with van der Waals and hydrogen-bonding interactions supporting a physical network. XRD showed β/β' short spacings whose intensity increased with MG content while polymorph identity remained unchanged. RSOOs were solid-like and thermoreversible. Under accelerated storage (40 °C, dark, 21 days), the 12% MG-RSO accumulated secondary oxidation products (TBARS) less than pure RSO and DPPH radical-scavenging capacity higher than pure RSO, an effect attributed to physical immobilization of the oil and compositional dilution rather than demonstrated intrinsic antioxidant activity. A 7 wt% MG RSOO, selected on the hardness-OBC plateau and on economic grounds, was used to replace 0-100% cocoa butter (CB) in chocolate. The chocolate melt peak shifted from 21.93 °C to 17.84 °C. A practical replacement window of 20-60% retained acceptable thermal stability and sensory quality, with the 20% formulation receiving the highest flavor-balance score. Above 60%, chocolates failed structurally at 30 °C, and 100% replacement collapsed at 25 °C. The results support RSOO as a partial CB replacement within a defined, conservative window.
SN - 2590-1575
ER -