Oleogels—Innovative Technological Solution for the Nutritional Improvement of Meat Products

Abstract

Food products contain important quantities of fats, which include saturated and/or unsaturated fatty acids. Because of a proven relationship between saturated fat consumption and the appearance of several diseases, an actual trend is to eliminate them from foodstuffs by finding solutions for integrating other healthier fats with high stability and solid-like structure. Polyunsaturated vegetable oils are healthier for the human diet, but their liquid consistency can lead to a weak texture or oil drain if directly introduced into foods during technological processes. Lately, the use of oleogels that are obtained through the solidification of liquid oils by using edible oleogelators, showed encouraging results as fat replacers in several types of foods. In particular, for meat products, studies regarding successful oleogel integration in burgers, meat batters, pâtés, frankfurters, fermented and bologna sausages have been noted, in order to improve their nutritional profile and make them healthier by substituting for animal fats. The present review aims to summarize the newest trends regarding the use of oleogels in meat products. However, further research on the compatibility between different oil-oleogelator formulations and meat product components is needed, as it is extremely important to obtain appropriate compositions with adequate behavior under the processing conditions.

Food-Grade Oleogels: Trends in Analysis, Characterization, and Applicability

“…In the USA, it has a GRAS grade, and the EU included it in the official list of additives with E number 462. The hydrophobic nature and semi-crystalline structure of ethylcellulose explain its use as a gelling agent of plant oils by direct dispersion [92,161,168,169].…”

“…As a result of worldwide demand, there is now a real interest in research and industry to produce healthier meat products with a low saturated fat content and an improved fatty acid profile. Vegetable oils, rich in polyunsaturated fats, possess a liquid consistency that can lead to oil drain or undesirable texture if incorporated directly into foods in the technological process [169]. However, their advantage is the ability to be structured by edible oleogelators to obtain a solid-like structure suitable for incorporation as animal fat replacers in meat products, such as burgers, sausages, patés, patties, etc.…”

“…As an overall conclusion, although an improved fatty acid profile was obtained by the incorporation of oleogels into meat products, several negative effects of their use in terms of sensory and technical parameters were also observed. Therefore, further research in this area is needed to enhance sensory acceptance by consumers and to improve the technical functionality of oleogel-formulated products [169].…”

Microstructure, Physical Properties, and Oxidative Stability of Olive Oil Oleogels Composed of Sunflower Wax and Monoglycerides

“…), confectionery items (cookies, cakes, bread, etc. ), chocolate, and spreadable products (margarine, fillings, creams, toppings, mayonnaise) [ 7 , 42 ]. According to well-documented reviews [ 7 , 42 ], sunflower wax has been investigated in various foods, such as cookies, sponge cakes, margarines, spreads, and sucuk sausage.…”

Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Pork Liver Pâté Formulated with Sunflower Oleogel as Fat Substituent

“…Pâtés are commonly known to contain a significant proportion of animal fat, typically ranging from 35% to 50% (Pan, 2021). The relatively high fat content in these emulsified meat products affects their sensory, physicochemical, and nutritional properties, as well as their texture (Rezler et al, 2020;Tobin et al, 2013;Perta-Crisan et al, 2023). Saturated fat is the main type of fat found in meat products.…”