Candelilla Wax as an Organogelator for Vegetable Oils-An Alternative to Develop Trans-free Products for the Food Industry Chapter uri icon

abstract

  • Candelilla Wax (CW) is a wax obtained from the leaves of a small shrub native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, Euphorbia cerifera and Euphorbia antisyphilitica, from the family Euphorbiaceae. CW is a globally recognized food additive approved by the FDA, used mainly as a glazing agent and binder for chewing gums. It is also used in the manufacture of lip balms and lotion bars, and in the paint industry to make varnishes. Additionally, CW can be used as a substitute for carnauba wax and beeswax in different food systems. A typical composition of a micronized high purity CW used as additive by the food industry shows hentriacontane as the main component. Since CW has as its major component hentriacontane and as minor components other n-alkanes with odd number of carbons, this creates the possibility of using CW to develop edible organogels using vegetable oils as the liquid apolar phase. This chapter discusses the information generated mainly in the laboratory of the authors of the chapter, associated with the development of CW organogels using vegetable oils as the liquid apolar phase. It also discusses the thermal, rheological, and structural characteristics of CW organogels and organogels formed by mixtures of Tripalmitin (TP) and CW developed under static conditions or with the application of a controlled shear rate at particular stages during cooling. The chapter reviews the results associated to the few investigations regarding the use of CW as coating barrier in food products, either as crystal-line dispersion in water or dispersed in a bio-polymer matrix. © 2011 by AOCS Press. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • 2011-01-01