Nanoscale Engineering of the Structure and Functionality of Fats
Alejandro G. Marangoni
Food, Health and Aging Laboratory, Dept. Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
E-mail contact: amarango@uoguelph.ca
Fats and oils are extremely useful natural products which are widely used in foods, cosmetics and industrial applications. As the concern for the environment and health grows, consumers are demanding more natural, green and sustainable materials in everyday consumer products. Fats and oils are complex multicomponent mixtures of triacylglycerol molecular species. The nature of these molecular species are a function of both fatty acid composition and distribution within the TAG molecule. The purpose of this talk is to discuss the structure of fats and oils, from constituent TAG molecules to the crystals they form. Upon crystallization, TAG molecules form lamellae, which stack to form a highly asymmetric nanoplatelet with about ~8 TAG lamella[1]. We have been able to engineer the thickness of these nanoplatelets by using specific surfactants and affecting the surface energy and surface nucleation behavior of TAGs on these crystalline nanoplatelets[2] . These nanoplatelets rapidly aggregate into colloidal structures of differing morphologies and size depending on external fields and concentration, forming networks which are responsible for the binding of oil, water vapor barrier properties, and mechanical properties of the fat. Our work has focused on developing and understanding of the functionality of fats from a structural perspective. Early work focused on the quantification of structure using small deformation rheological techniques. More recent work has focused on the use of scattering methods, in particular Ultra-Small Angle X-ray Scattering at synchrotron facilities to quantify atomic scale structure to mesoscale structure simulataneously, in a non-destructive fashion[3]. Here we will present the latest efforts in engineering the functionality of fats by engineering the nanoscale structure of the material.
References
[1] Acevedo, N. and Marangoni, A.G. 2010. Characterization of the nanoscale in triglyceride crystal networks. Crystal Growth and Design 10: 3327-3333.
[2] Ramel, P., Co, E.D., Acevedo, N.A. and Marangoni, A.G. 2016. Nanoscale structure and functionality of fats. Progress in Lipid Research 64: 231–242
[3] Pink, D.A., Quinn, B., Peyronel, F. and Marangoni, A.G. 2013. Edible Oil Structures at Low and Intermediate Concentrations: I. Modelling, Computer Simulation and Predictions for X-ray Scattering. J. Applied Physics 114: 234901.
Biography
Alejandro G. Marangoni, Ph.D., FRSC, FAOCS, FIFT, FRSC (U.K.)
Dr. Alejandro G. Marangoni is a Professor and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Food, Health and Aging at the University of Guelph, Canada. His work concentrates on the physical properties of lipidic materials in foods, cosmetics and biolubricants. He has published over 400 refereed research articles, 82 book chapters, 18 books, and over 40 patents. He is the recipient of many awards including the 2013 AOCS Stephen Chang award, the 2014 IFT Chang Award in Lipid Science, the 2014 AOCS Supelco/Nicholas Pelick Award, the 2015 ISF Kaufmann Medal, the 2017 AOCS Alton E. Bailey Medal, and the 2019 European Lipid Technology Award from Euro Fed Lipids. Marangoni is a fellow of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, the Institute of Food Technologists and the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.). He is the first Editor in Chief of both Current Opinion and Current Research in Food Science, EIC of the Lipid Library (AOCS), and past EIC of Food Research International. Dr. Marangoni has trained over 100 people in his laboratory; many occupy positions of importance in the academe and industry, including eleven professors at major North American universities. Dr. Marangoni was honored as one of the 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians in 2012 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2018.
