Abstract: In this work, monoglycerides, beeswax and rice bran wax were utilized to improve the stability of sesame paste. The oil syneresis, texture, rheological properties and microstructure of sesame paste were investigated, and we modelled the influences of these organogelators on the rheology. Results showed that all the sesame pastes exhibited a shearthinning behavior and pseudoplasticity, and the non-Newtonian index n was in the range from 0.12 to 0.68 based on the Herschel-Bulkley model. The flow activation energy of sesame paste stabilized by rice bran wax was the largest, followed by monoglyceride and beeswax based on the relationship between apparent viscosity and temperature from the Arrheniustype model. Furthermore, acceptable sesame pastes in both oil syneresis and hardness were obtained by adding 4% monoglyceride, 5% beeswax and 5% rice bran wax, respectively, under the optimized conditions.

Key words: sesame paste, organic gel, rheological properties, viscosity, microstructure