Comparing frying performance of oleogels prepared from various wax types under repeated frying cycles

BACKGROUND: Recently, oleogel has been proposed as an excellent substitute for conventional vegetable oils for deep-frying applications. Waxes are the most used oleogelators and are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The properties of oleogels prepared from different types of waxes vary in their physiochemical composition, which may affect their deep-frying performance.

RESULTS: In this study, soybean oil-based oleogels prepared from four different types of waxes (i.e., beeswax, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, and rice bran wax) were developed to evaluate their deep-frying performance of carbohydrate-based food (potato chips) for 20 frying cycles. Results showed that all oleogels retarded the oxidative compounds' (hydroperoxides, aldehydes, ketones) formation during deep-frying. Further, beeswax oleogel (BWO) showed superior stability (free fatty acid = 0.176%) towards hydrolysis compared to the other oleogels (free fatty acid = 0.344-0.427%). Similarly, the potato chips fried with BWO had the lowest total oxidation (TOTOX) value (252.15). The result revealed that the excellent frying stability of BWO could be attributed to its exceptional oil binding capacity and stronger gel network formation that reduces the entrainment of moisture during the cooling phase of intermittent frying.

CONCLUSION: In short, BWO showed potential to be used as an alternative deep-frying medium with excellent oxidative stability, opening an alternative to the development of a zero trans-fat high stability frying medium. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.