Abstract
Legislative limitations of the use of trans and saturated fatty acids, the rising concerns among consumers about the negative effects of some fats on human health, and environmental and health considerations regarding the increased use of palm fat in food and biodiesel production drove to innovations in reformulating fat-containing food products. Oleogelation is one of the most in-trend methods for reducing or replacing the unhealthy and controversial fats in food products. Different edible oleogels are being formulated by various techniques and used in spreads, bakeries, confectioneries, and dairy and meat products. This review exclusively focuses on up-to-date applications of oleogels in food and mechanisms of gelation, and discusses the properties of new products. Research has produced acceptable reformulated food products with similar technological and rheological properties as the reference products or even products with improved techno-functionality; however, there is still a high need to improve oleogelation methods, as well as the technological process of oleogel-based foods products. Despite other strategies that aim to reduce or replace the occurrence of trans and saturated fats in food, oleogelation presents a great potential for industrial application in the future due to nutritional and environmental considerations.
Highlights
Fats and oils are mainly triglycerides containing monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, besides several minor compounds
The cooking loss of the patties was significantly reduced for the samples that contained 50% and 100% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose oleogels
Recent policy changes that impose a removal of trans fats from food products and limitations in the consumption of saturated fats, along with the rising concerns among consumers about the negative effect of fats and the ecological damages caused by the intense palm oil usage, led to numerous research in the field of fat reformulation
Summary
Fats and oils are mainly triglycerides containing monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, besides several minor compounds. While partial hydrogenation is considered to be the main process that leads to the formation of artificial trans fatty acids, other methods bring a high content of saturated fats in the final food product composition, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, leading to obesity and diabetes [3]. Interesting practical applications might be developed, since it is possible to formulate oleogels with various mechanical properties and structural strengths by identifying the optimum lipid structurants classes and compounds, their ratio, the assembling strategies, processing parameters of structuring agents in accordance to the type of liquid oil used and the food product aimed to be improved. In order to comply with the new regulations, fat from several food products might be substituted by tailor-made oleogels
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