Dr. Kara publishes a paper in Food Chemistry on Tribology of Oleosomes
Oleosomes, also known as oil bodies, are micron-sized, micelle-like organelles engineered by nature that serve as intracellular lipid storage structures. In this work published in Food Chemistry, Dr. Hasan H. Kara (Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow, TUBITAK) together with Dr. Andrea Araiza-Calahorra (Postdoctoral Fellow, UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee Funded MicroLub Project) demonstrate that oleosomes extracted from flaxseeds are stabilized by a range of lower to higher molecular weight proteins (3.5–152.8 kDa) and muciages and these oloeosome droplets are kinetically stable over 6 weeks storage. This stability can be largely attributed to electrostatic repulsive forces generated by the flaxseed proteins, whilst steric stabilization offered by larger glycans associated with mucilage. Varying degree of kinetic stability was evidenced in presence of ions and pH conditions with most dramatic effects of coalescence observed in presence of Ca2+ ions due to ion binding to oleosome-associated surface proteins. Strikingly, the oleosomes show a high shear thinning behaviour despite containing just 6 wt% oil. Of more importance, the unprecedented tribological properties of flaxseed oleosome was similar to those of flaxseed oil highlighting the shear-induced coalescence of these oleosomes. In summary, this study sets the scene for using flaxseed oleosomes as potential naturally occuring emulsions for designing plant-based products without added emulsifiers to offer the desired rheological as well as tribological benefits. Check out the open access paper Food Chemistry, Volume 143, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137160