Triglyceride nanocrystal aggregation into polycrystalline colloidal networks: Ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, models and computer simulation

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the majority molecules present in edible fats and oils. Many of the functional characteristics of fat products depend on the colloidal fat crystal network present. Identifying the hierarchies of these colloidal networks and how they spontaneously self-assemble is important to understand their functionality and the oil binding capacity, and new insights into the nano- to meso-scale structure in these colloidal fat networks have been reported in recent years. Ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) is a technique new to the study of edible oil structures and, when combined with modelling and computer simulation, has enabled significant advances to be made in understanding the nano- to micro-scale crystalline structures of edible oils. In the four years since crystalline nanoplatelets (CNPs) were characterized, models have been made of these highly anisotropic nanoscale structures in which they were treated as the primary unit. In those models, CNPs were represented as close-packed rigid layers of spheres, so chosen because the van der Waals sphere–sphere interaction is known. The intent of the models was to predict the hierarchy of colloidal fat networks that would self-assemble from the components in edible oils. Initially, CNP aggregation was modelled under the assumption that all CNPs are present before aggregation begins and that their solubility in liquid oil is very low. The models successfully predicted the fractal dimensions subsequently measured using USAXS. This brief review reports on some of the latest models and simulations together with the results of USAXS experiments carried out on binary lipid systems, such as SSS in OOO, as well as certain complex systems that contain many different TAG molecules. The excellent agreement between the two approaches has established that USAXS is a powerful tool in the elucidation of the nano- to meso-length scales in fats and oils.