Physicochemical properties and intermolecular interactions of a novel diacylglycerol oil oleogel made with ethyl cellulose as affected by γ-oryzanol.

With an aim to prepare a novel formula for healthy oleogel, diacylglycerol (DAG)-rich oil as a continuous oil phase, ethyl cellulose (EC) as a gelator and γ-oryzanol (GO) as an antioxidant were used. Effects of EC viscosity and EC/GO mass ratio on the physicochemical properties were studied. Besides, interactions between the components were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The EC with a viscosity of 18-22 mPa s resulted in slightly higher oil binding capacity (99.84% vs 98.55% at 10% EC, and 99.92% vs 99.49% at 12% EC) and significantly stronger hardness and gel strength of DAG oil oleogels than EC with a viscosity of 45-55 mPa s. Moreover, the hardness and rheological properties of oleogels were negatively correlated to GO addition. MD simulation was used to understand this effect of GO addition, showing that EC-GO complex had lower binding energy (-107.14 kJ/mol) than the...