Issue 2, 2020

Advances in our understanding of the structure and functionality of edible fats and fat mimetics

Abstract

The reasons for the increased world-wide incidence of obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease include sedentary lifestyles and poor food choices. Regulatory agencies in several countries now require companies to add unattractive front of package labels to their products where salt, sugar and fat (or saturated fat) levels are prominently displayed. After the demise of partially hydrogenated fats, saturated fat has become the new target. Consumption of saturated fat over polyunsaturated oil has been clearly shown to increase cholesterol levels in humans. However, saturated fats provide the functionality required in many food products. To complicate matters, concerns over sustainability, veganism, genetically modified organisms, animal welfare, as well as religious beliefs, severely limit our sources of saturated fat. In this review we will discuss recent advances in our understanding of the nano and mesoscale structure of fats, responsible for their physical functionality and contrast it to that of fat mimetics. Fat mimetics include polymeric networks of ethylcellulose, emulsion-templated networks of proteins and polysaccharides, colloidal and self-assembled fibrillar networks of polar lipid crystals, as well as solid o/w emulsions of oil trapped within crystallized lamellar mesophases. Clean label and economic considerations will also be touched upon.

Graphical abstract: Advances in our understanding of the structure and functionality of edible fats and fat mimetics

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
22 авг 2019
Accepted
26 ное 2019
First published
29 ное 2019

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 289-306

Advances in our understanding of the structure and functionality of edible fats and fat mimetics

A. G. Marangoni, J. P. M. van Duynhoven, N. C. Acevedo, R. A. Nicholson and A. R. Patel, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 289 DOI: 10.1039/C9SM01704F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements