INFORM September 2024

10 • inform September 2024, Vol. 35 (8)

Conventional low-fat bologna

Hybrid bologna

Images comparing conventional low-fat bologna with hybrid bologna showing the paler color due to the emulsion gel.

A separate research group used a bigel, instead of an emulsion, to study replacing animal fat in food products. The team at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa used 92.5 percent high-oleic soybean oil and 7.5 percent rice bran wax. Although their plant-based fat has a different composition, they reported similar results. When the bigel was used to replace fat in pork sausages the finished products were paler than con trols containing animal fat. However, in this case there were also reports of less flavor and aroma. Given that their hybrid bologna’s properties were mostly favorable, Ghosh anticipates that the emulsion has commer cial potential with meat processing companies. Shand says that spices can be added to enhance the color of the emulsion gel to look more appealing to consumers depending on the appli cation. Next, the team, including doctorial student Oluwafemi Coker, plans to test the emulsion in beef burgers and break fast sausage patties. They have no immediate intentions to mix it with a plant-based alternative meat, but Ghosh says it could find use there. PLANT FAT + PLANT PROTEIN From Marangoni’s perspective fat mimetics should be approached in an entirely different way. It is not just animal fat that meat analogs need to mimic, he says. It is the entire struc ture of adipose tissue . To make plant products mimic animal adipose tissue Marangoni’s lab uses decellularized plant tissue. Adipose tissue is composed of adipocytes surrounded by an extracellular matrix made of collagen protein and polysaccharides that create a scaf

fold for the fat-containing adipose cells. This is why upon heating adipose tissue in meat retains its form while oleogels lose theirs; plant oils do not have a similar protein structure to contain them. But plants do have cellulosic tubular scaffolds. Marangoni’s idea was to use such scaffolds in the form of freeze-dried carrot or broccoli tissue and then fill them with shea and palm olein. Enzymatic glycerolysis of these plant oils converts their native triacylglycerols into more structured par tial glycerides. In a nutritional bonus, filling the scaffold with oleogel rather than oil allows the structure to hold while con taining less fat. His lab is now in a partnership with STARS and Protein Industries Canada to make plant-based burgers. San Fransico, California based start-up company, Lypid , has also developed a vegan fat based on the adipose tissue concept. PhytoFat™ is a microencapsulated ingredient cur rently being used in alternative meat products. “This creates a lot of small droplets containing plant-based liquid oil—canola or soybean—but since they are encapsulated in a different food, they can handle high heat, like a solid ani mal fat,” said Michelle Lee, co-founder and chief technology officer. “The encapsulation recreates the adipose cells that are dispersed throughout meat tissue, and during chewing the oil leaks out to create that juicy mouthfeel.” The outer shells of the capsules, which she would only divulge “are made with food ingredients that have emulsifying capabilities,” do not break down until 200-250 o C, but their for mulation allows Lypid’s research team to adjust their melting point and create different textures just through physical mod ifications. About 50 percent of the capsule is oil, so it is lower