Abstract: Oleogels were prepared by the formation of composite gels from natural phospholipids in virgin soybean oil with added β-sitosterol. The effects of the amount of β-sitosterol on the hardness, thermodynamic properties, solid fat content (SFC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and microstructure of oleogels were investigated. The results showed that gel behavior could occur at 20 ℃ when the amount of β-sitosterol was no less than 12%. Both the hardness and SFC of oleogels increased with the addition of β-sitosterol, and the hardness changed significantly at different storage temperatures. The amount of β-sitosterol added had a great influence on the thermodynamic characteristics, and the molten crystals all showed single peaks. The oleogels mainly formed β crystals, which were long needle-like and evenly distributed. With β-sitosterol addition, the density of oleogel crystals increased, the size became smaller, and the three-dimensional network structure formed was more compact, along with a gradual increase in oil retention ability, indicating that β-sitosterol can combine with natural phospholipids in virgin soybean oil forming oleogels, which contained no trans fatty acids (TFAS), were rich in natural nutrients, and had desirable gel hardness and good structural stability.

Key words: virgin soybean oil, natural phospholipid, β-sitosterol, oleogels, oleogels properties