Jing Lu

The stability of emulsion‐templated oleogels is greatly influenced by the number of interfacial layers, yet this parameter has been understudied. In this work, anionic xanthan gum (XG) and cationic chitosan (CS) were sequentially deposited onto black soybean oil bodies (BSOB) via layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly to form mono- and bilayer emulsions. These were then converted into oleogels to evaluate how interfacial layering affects their physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility. FT-IR confirmed that both XG and CS adsorb onto BSOB through electrostatic interactions. DSC, texture profile analysis, and rheological measurements revealed that additional interfacial layers significantly enhanced thermal stability, hardness, adhesiveness, and thixotropic recovery. During simulated gastrointestinal digestion, oleogels bearing XG and CS layers released significantly fewer free fatty acids, with the degree of lipolysis inversely correlated to the number of layers. Moreover, CLSM and SDS-PAGE analyses showed that the bilayer interface afforded robust protection during the gastric phase, preserving a fraction of intact oleogel droplets. Together, these findings highlight the critical role of interfacial architecture in tuning oleogel performance and digestive behavior. These results suggest that oil body-based oleogels, with their tunable interfacial architecture, hold strong potential as sustainable fat replacers in food formulations such as spreads, bakery products, and plant-based meat alternatives.

CONTEXT: Crop diversification is a central pillar of European agricultural sustainability strategies, yet its implementation remains limited due to technological and institutional lock-in around cereal-dominated production systems. Integrating grain legumes into cereal rotations has been identified as a promising diversification option, but uptake by farmers in Europe and Nordic countries remains low.,OBJECTIVE: This study conceptualizes grain legume integration as alternative diversification strategy within existing cereal-based rotations and examines farmers’ preferences for such strategies. Specifically, we consider two hypothetical scenarios for integrating faba beans into cereal-based rotations dominated by winter wheat, oats, and spring barley: (i) a substitution-based rotational pattern change scenario, in which one season of winter wheat is replaced by faba beans within existing rotations; ii) an extensification-based land use change scenario, in which faba beans are cultivated on additional fallow land. We investigate how farm and farmer characteristics and behavioral factors shape scenario-specific preferences.,METHODS: We employed a survey-based discrete choice experiment among 514 Swedish cereal farmers in 2025. Farmers evaluated hypothetical faba bean integration scenarios characterised by economic profits, environmental benefits, contractual settings, and payments. Preference data were analysed using mixed logit and latent class models to capture both average scenario-specific preferences and preference heterogeneity across farmer segments.,RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:,The results show a strong average preference for maintaining the status quo, indicating a generally low willingness among Swedish cereal farmers to integrate faba beans into cereal-based rotations even when alternative integration strategies are suggested. However, latent class analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity in how farmers evaluate alternative strategies to legume integration. Three distinct farmer segments are identified, differing substantially in their acceptance of substitution versus extensification strategies and in their values to economic profits, environmental benefits, contractual settings, and payments attributes. While economic profits emerge as the primary determinant of scenario-specific choice across all segments, environmental benefits and contractual settings influence preferences mainly among specific groups.,SIGNIFICANCE:,This study provides new insights into the strategies of integration of grain legumes in existing cereal-based systems by highlighting farmers’ differentiated responses to alternative, system-compatible integration scenarios. The findings demonstrate that reluctance toward legume integration at the aggregate level masks substantial heterogeneity in farmers’ preferences and decision-making. This underscores the need for practical, scenario-specific and targeted policy instruments that align with diverse farmer preferences, thereby supporting more effective strategies for legume expansion and sustainable crop diversification in European cereal-based systems.

Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) have potential for use in food applications as texture inducers. This study investigated the formation of PNFs from protein extracted from whole fava bean and from its two major storage proteins, globulin fractions 11S and 7S. PNFs were formed by heating (85 °C) the proteins under acidic conditions (pH 2) for 24 h. Thioflavin T fluorescence and atomic force microscopy techniques were used to investigate PNF formation. The foaming properties (capacity, stability, and half-life) were explored for non-fibrillated and fibrillated protein from fava bean, 11S, and 7S to investigate the texturing ability of PNFs at concentrations of 1 and 10 mg/mL and pH 7. The results showed that all three heat-incubated proteins (fava bean, 11S, and 7S) formed straight semi-flexible PNFs. Some differences in the capacity to form PNFs were observed between the two globulin fractions, with the smaller 7S protein being superior to 11S. The fibrillated protein from fava bean, 11S, and 7S generated more voluminous and more stable foams at 10 mg/mL than the corresponding non-fibrillated protein. However, this ability for fibrillated proteins to improve the foam properties seemed to be concentration-dependent, as at 1 mg/mL, the foams were less stable than those made from the non-fibrillated protein.

During storage, some factors (for example, storage duration and temperature) can affect milk stability and consumer acceptability. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARSs), lipid classes, and fatty acid profiles in stored ultra‐high temperature (UHT) milk were analyzed to assess the effects of storage time and temperature on lipid oxidation and lipolysis. With storage duration up to 12 months, the milk fat phase was separated and showed high levels of oxidation and lipolysis, manifested as increased levels of TBARS and free fatty acids. High oxidation levels decreased the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) in triacylglycerol and phospholipids. Higher storage temperatures (20, 30, and 37 °C) resulted in a higher degree of fat aggregation, oxidation, and lipolysis compared with refrigerated storage (4 °C). Additionally, sampling month of raw milk (May, July, and November) affected the lipid profiles of UHT milk during storage, with more UFA oxidized in July than in the other 2 months.