Development and technofunctional‐sensory characterization of virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats for artisan bakery products

Abstract

Trans fatty acids (TFA) are considered undesirable food components due to their unequivocally proven negative effects on cardiovascular health. Twelve virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats were developed by blending various liquid and solid vegetable fat components and characterized in terms of their technofunctional‐sensory properties. The aim was to develop fat blends with similar or improved technofunctional‐sensory properties as common deep‐frying fats for bakery applications. For this purpose, foaming and splattering behavior during deep‐frying, melting behavior, sensory properties as well as thermal and oxidation stability were analyzed. Moreover, volatile rancid off‐taste compounds were determined by HS‐SPME‐GC‐O/MS. Acrolein was measured by means of NTD‐GC‐MS. Six optimized deep‐frying fat prototypes were further investigated in a long‐term deep‐frying study using donut‐like products and quark balls as model bakery products. Most of the prototypes displayed high thermal stability as measured by total polar material (TPM) and polymerized triglycerides (PTG). Some of the deep‐frying fat blend prototypes performed equally well or even better than the virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats regarding oxidation stability. Several deep‐frying fat blend prototypes were similar to the TFA rich reference in most sensory attributes. These results were used to establish a deep‐frying fat toolbox that may be applied for further fat blend optimizations. Finally, this research data may contribute to endorse artisan bakeries to use only virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats for the production of deep‐fried bakery products.Practical applications: Many artisan bakeries in Germany still use deep‐frying fats containing partially hydrogenated peanut oils with high amounts of TFA. However, some have already replaced the deep‐frying fats by virtually TFA free alternatives. In order to encourage a more widespread application of virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats optimization of the latter in terms of their technofunctional and sensory properties is recommended. This research data may contribute to endorse artisan bakeries to use only virtually TFA free deep‐frying fats for the production of deep‐fried bakery products.Novel virtually TFA free deep‐frying fat blends were developed and characterized in terms of their technofunctional‐sensory properties. The final optimized six prototypes exhibited similar or partly even improved technofunctional‐sensory properties compared to commercially available deep‐frying fats intended for bakery applications.