The possibility to steer extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) digestion and polyphenol bioaccessibility through oleogelation was investigated by Italian Researchers.
EVOO was converted into oleogels using lipophilic (monoglycerides, rice wax, sunflower wax, phytosterols) or hydrophilic (whey protein aerogel particles, WP) gelators. In-vitro digestion demonstrated that the oleogelator nature influenced both lipid digestion and polyphenol bioaccessibility. WP-based oleogels presented ~100% free fatty acid release compared to ~64% for unstructured EVOO and ~40 to ~55% for lipophilic-based oleogels. This behavior was attributed to the ability of WP to promote micelle formation through oleogel destructuring. Contrarily, the lower lipolysis of EVOO gelled with lipophilic gelators compared to unstructured EVOO suggested that the gelator obstructed lipase accessibility. Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol bioaccessibility increased for WP oleogels (~27%), while liposoluble-based oleogels reduced it by 7 to 13%.
These findings published in Food Research International journal highlight the deep effect of the gelator choice on the digestion fate of EVOO components in the human body.
