Flocculation of colloidal food arises from the random collision of small primary particles which coagulate to form larger aggregates that could eventually lead to the formation of a solid network. In some cases, the structures that arise are fractal in nature. A fractal structure is one that is scale invariant on “all” length scales but which, in practice, is not so. Scattering techniques, like X-rays, are powerful methods well suited to carry out this kind of measurement. For many years, X-rays have been used to identify the existence of statistical fractals in a range of complex systems e.g. colloids, aerosols and edible fats. The measurement of a mass fractal dimension in soft food materials, like edible fats and oils, is relatively new. This work will show the findings in complex systems like chocolate and waxes as well as present a summary of results from the literature in the area of edible fats and oil studied using X-ray scattering techniques on length scales ranging from hundred of nanometers to approximately 10 micrometers. We will show how the statistical mass fractal dimension can be extracted from the data collected using X-ray scattering. We will relate the fractal dimensions deduced to the characteristic length scales and we will discuss how the statistical mass fractal dimension could be affected by differences in processing or storage conditions.
