An Overview of the Past, Present, and Future of Organogels

This chapter briefly reviews the definition of a "fat" and some of the strategies that can be used to gel oils in the context of specific examples and summarizes some of the applications of organogels. It also introduces the chapters of the book and gives an overview of the book. An organogel or oleogel is a gel where the liquid phase is oil, as opposed to a hydrogel, which is a gel that has a continuous liquid water phase. Organogels or oleogels offer an alternative to the use of "bad" fats such as saturated and trans fats. The building blocks of these organogels can vary widely, mainly falling under these categories: (1) crystalline particles, (2) crystalline fibers, (3) polymeric strands, (4) particle-filled networks, and (5) liquid crystalline mesophases. The field of organogelation in food is in its infancy and requires further research by the fats and oils community. The chapter presents a short introduction to some of the most promising food-grade oleogel systems currently known and provides further insight into the structure and functionality of this novel class of soft materials.