Micellization in vegetable oils: A structural characterisation

[Display omitted] •The solubilisation of polar antioxidant in vegetable oils via reverse micelles.•Structuration of vegetable oils using a bio-sourced emulsifier.•SWAXS technique is a suitable technique to study polar oils. The solubilisation of polar and polyphenol antioxidant in vegetable oils was studied. It was shown that the use of a polyglyceryl-3-diisostearate (PG3DS), a bio-sourced emulsifier well known in cosmetics, increases the yield of solubilisation thanks to some aggregation properties analysed using x-ray scattering technique. We show indeed that PG3DS forms reverse aggregates with a critical concentration that depends on the oil polarity. PG3DS reverse aggregates are elongated with a polar core and cannot be really swollen by addition of water. This supramolecular organisation allows however an efficient solubilisation of polar antioxidants in vegetable oils.