Mechanistic insights into the synergistic control of whipped plant based cream structure through sucrose ester interfacial design and sugarcane wax directed β' crystal nucleation.

In plant-based whipped cream systems, the coupling of fat crystallization and interfacial stabilization remains poorly understood, limiting fat crystal network formation and storage stability. Here, sugarcane wax (SW) was used to induce β' crystallization, while sucrose ester (SE-11, HLB ≈ 11) was applied to stabilize the interface, and their synergistic mechanism was explored by molecular docking. SE-11 and SW interacted through hydrophobic packing, π-π interactions and hydrogen bonding, and further associated with triacylglycerols (TAG) via short hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. At 3-3.5 wt% SE-11, oil volume fraction φ = 0.15(φ, i.e., the ratio of oil volume to the total liquid volume) and 8 wt% SW, the emulsion showed high stability and abundant β' crystals, while the whipped cream exhibited shorter whipping time, higher overrun, enhanced stickiness and well-preserved foam structure during 30 d storage.