Potential use of carnauba wax oleogel to replace saturated fat in ice cream

The objective of this study was to develop a wax-oleogel (soybean oil—SBO, peanut oil—PNO, and carnauba wax—CBW) to be used as a fat replacer for ice cream formulations. The oleogels were structured with 6%, 8%, and 10% of CBW and were characterized by oil binding capacity (OBC), visual evaluation, thermal properties (DSC), and microstructure by polarized light microscopy (PLM). All oleogels resulted in a firm and stable gel for 60 days, regardless of the concentrations (6%, 8%, and 10%) and temperatures (5 and 25°C). The OBC of oleogels at 8% and 10% addition were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the oleogels with 6% of CBW. However, the oleogel formed with 6% of CBW showed more than 84% of oil retention after 60 days, indicating that the 6% of CBW was sufficient to develop a network that could hold the liquid oil into a gel-like structure. Larger crystals (μm) were observed with 10% CBW addition (2.15 ± 0.16 μm SBO and 2.08 ± 0.22 mm PNO). After preliminary sensory studies, the SBO oleogel with 6% of CBW was chosen to be applied in the ice-cream formulation. The ice cream preparations were analyzed by overrun, melting rate, fat composition, and sensory acceptance. The oleogel fat replacement (50% and 100%) reduced the melting rate of ice creams; however, it negatively affected the ice cream overrun. These results show that 50% replacement of the traditional lipid phase by CBW oleogel can be performed without causing sensory impairment.