Fat is one of the three major energy substances and is also an essential nutrient for the human body, but excessive intake can cause a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and so on. As early as the 1970s, Western countries began to emphasize the control of the proportion of fat in the total energy of food, and the United States proposed that the total intake of fat should be reduced to about 10% of total energy.
With the increase of people's health awareness, low-fat or fat-free foods have emerged, and fat substitutes have developed in line with this requirement. Fat substitutes can be divided into 3 types according to their composition; protein-based fat substitutes, carbohydrate-based fat substitutes, and fat-based fat substitutes.
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Fat Substitutes
1.1 Protein-based fat alternatives
Protein-based alternatives have some limitations in their application, they cannot be used as cooking oils, and their products cannot be fried, which is due to the fact that high temperatures denature proteins and thus lose the function of simulating fats.
In addition, proteins are prone to chemical reactions with some flavor components, reducing or losing flavor components. These reactions vary with the proteins used and other components in the food.
Common types: Whey protein fat substitutes, micronized protein fat substitutes, soy protein
1.2 Carbohydrate-based fat alternatives
Carbohydrate-based fat substitutes are mainly through a gelatinous matrix to stabilize a considerable amount of water, producing similar lubricity and fluidity to fat, increasing the viscosity and volume of food, and providing a creamy, smooth taste. But it cannot be used for frying foods or dissolving oil-soluble flavor substances, and carbohydrate-based fat substitutes are the safest edible fat substitutes.
Common types: starch fat substitutes, fibrous fat substitutes, hemicellulose fat substitutes, colloidal fat substitutes, β-dextran fat substitutes
1.3 Fat-based fat substitutes
Fat-based alternatives not only look and feel like fat , but also have fat-like physical properties. Theoretically, they can replace all or part of the fat in food.
Common types: emulsifiers, medium chain triglycerides, structural oils, heat-free synthetic oils.
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Application of fat substitutes in food
2.1 Application of fat substitutes in baked goods
In baked goods, fat is used to maintain the material structure of the product and provide the senses and flavor of the fat. Fat substitutes are mainly some fillers whose role is to increase the hardness of the product. A variety of fibers, as well as many grain and vegetable fibers, meet this requirement. Water-like colloids, soluble fillers and sugars can give foods the senses that fats have. Water-like colloids create fluidity by forming pastes or colloids.
In the preparation of pasta, colloids and starch are usually added. Glicksman et al. used gum and cellulose (extracted from citrus) to make cakes that were low in fat and halved in calories. Pfizer achieves satisfactory results with egg whites and egg spices as well as regulating the content of colloids and starch. The National Starch Company of the United States makes fat-free cakes from colloids, starches and emulsifiers such as N-Flate.
In many instances, water-like colloids are key, not only producing sensory effects, but also increasing the volume of the cake and resulting in a more uniform tissue structure. In addition, they extend shelf life.
2.2 Application of fat substitutes in meat products
Traditional meat products contain many fats. Hamburgers contain 20 to 30 percent fat, while hot dogs contain about 15 percent fat.
Egbe ~ and others use carrageenan to replace the fat in meat pies, and make excellent low-fat meat pies by adding edible modified starch. In the production of low-fat food to consider the senses and texture of the food, with lean meat or water can get a lower fat content, but with too much lean meat will make the food hard, dry, food costs increased, and water alone will make the food soft. Studies have found that by adding starchy fat substitutes, 10% fat meat pies can be sensory indistinguishable from 20% fat meat pies.
2.3 Application of fat substitutes in condiments
The easiest and easiest application of fat substitutes is in condiments. Condiments are basically emulsified systems flavored with salt, sugar, vinegar and vanilla in water.
Alternative condiment oils can be selected with water-like colloids that have the same fluidity as oils to provide a lubricating, creamy taste. Of course, the flavor in low-fat or fat-free condiments may be different from when there is no substitution, so the flavor must be reconstructed.
One condiment is that the oil phase can be completely replaced by a mixture of high-amylose corn starch and xanthan gum, which is first mixed into a 6.1% solution and then mixed with other ingredients and dispersed into water to form a delicious, good-flowing condiment. A fat-free Italian condiment is a mixture of maltodextrin and xanthan gum made from potato starch to replace fat, resulting in a creamy texture.
2.4 Application of fat substitutes in frozen foods
Since the 1970s, low-fat ice cream has emerged due to the development of low-calorie foods. The role of watery colloids in traditional ice cream products is to stabilize the frozen oil-in-water emulsifier to increase volume and prevent solid-liquid separation. The stabilizer system includes a small amount of carrageenan, as well as several thickeners such as guar gum, CMC, locust bean gum, etc., and the amount of these colloids is very low.
However, in order to obtain fat-like tissue properties, a large number of watery colloids and different mixtures need to be used to simulate fat. A fat-free ice cream is stabilized by gel, microcrystalline cellulose and CMC, mixed with sorbitol as a filler, to produce a smooth, creamy texture by adjusting the proportions of each ingredient. In addition, dextran can also be used instead of sorbitol. These low- or fat-free ice creams can be prepared by the usual method.
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Prospects for the development of fat substitutes
Fat alternatives started late but developed quickly. So far, a variety of alternatives have been formed, but unfortunately no single fat substitute can completely replace fat. In order to be able to well simulate the taste, texture and other characteristics of fat, two or more compound fat substitutes are often added to food to meet the needs as much as possible.
There are still many problems with fat substitutes, which require the continuous efforts of scientific researchers.
In addition, while developing fat substitutes, it should also be seen that fat has an important role that cannot be ignored in the human body, and people still need to properly ingest a certain proportion of fat to meet the needs of metabolism in the human body. Therefore, we should adopt the right attitude and use fat substitutes reasonably to avoid excessive fat intake and maintain the original flavor of food. From the perspective of development trends, the development prospects of fat substitutes in the 21st century will be brilliant.
Article Source: Luo Zhigang, Gao Qunyu, Yang Liansheng, Application of Fat Substitutes in Food
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