Impact of fat replacement by a hybrid gel (canola oil/candelilla wax oleogel and gelatinized corn starch hydrogel) on dough viscoelasticity, color, texture, structure, and starch digestibility of sugar-snap cookies

Abstract

The reduction of fat content is an important issue in the formulation of bakery products. In this work, the fat content in sugar-snap cookies was reduced by replacing a commercial shortening with a hybrid gel (HG). The HG was formed by mixing a canola oil/candelilla oleogel (5 g/100 g) and a gelatinized corn starch hydrogel (5 g/100 g) in a 1:1 ratio. The commercial shortening was replaced (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) by HG, achieving a fat content reduction of up to 50%. HG cookies exhibited reduced hardness and improved firmness, their surface color pattern exhibited an increased yellowness and lightness as HG increased. FTIR analysis revealed that the starch contained in the HG cookies was more hydrated and unordered, and the secondary structure of the proteins was less ordered. The starch hydrolysis pattern exhibited two phases that reflected structures with fast and slow hydrolysis rates. As a consequence of the gelatinized starch fraction, the HG cookies showed increased starch digestibility, with the rapidly digestible starch varying from 19.0% for the control cookie to about 43% for the HG cookie with complete shortening replacement. Overall, hybrid gels offer an alternative to commercial shortening use for formulating sugar-snap cookies with lower saturated fat content.