INFORM September 2024

EXTRACTS & DISTILLATES

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

Edible Applications Technology articles picked by researchers This column highlights articles from non-AOCS journals to complement the AOCS member benefit of access to full journal articles at www.aocs.org/stay-informed/journals.

strategies to improve the quality and shelf life of the lipids in plant-based foods. However, further research is still needed to develop plant-based lipids that accurately mimic the behavior of animal-based ones. This review explores and discusses vari ous technological approaches to address challenges in creating plant-based alternatives to animal fats, particularly in the context of meat and dairy products, to provides insights into innovative approaches for improving the sustainability, health, and sensory attributes of plant-based meat analogs, addressing challenges related to texture, oxidation, and overall product quality. Recent trends in design of healthier fat replacers: Type, replacement mechanism, sensory evaluation method In recent years, with the increasing awareness of consumers about the relationship between excessive fat intake and chronic diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc., the demand for low-fat foods has increased year by year. However, a simple reduction of fat content in food will cause changes in physical and chemical properties, physiological properties, and sensory prop erties of food. Therefore, developing high-quality fat replacers to replace natural fats has become an emerging trend, and it is still a technical challenge to completely simulate the special func tion of natural fat in low-fat foods. This review aims to provide an overview of development trends of fat replacers, and the different types of fat replacers, the potential fat replacement mechanisms, sensory evaluation methods, and their consumer acceptance are discussed and compared, which may provide a theoretical guid and consumer acceptance Gao, Y., et al ., Food Chemistry , 447, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138982

Ignacio Vieitez is a research professor at the Universdad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay. He studies green extraction processes to isolate bioactive compounds and determines their potential benefits as food ingredients.

Plant-based fat replacements are substances that are used to replace or mimic the properties of fats in food products while pro viding a healthier alternative. These fat replacers are used in var ious processed food products to help reduce the calorie and fat content. The current outlook of the plant fat replacer market is promising, as the demand for healthier food options is increas ing among consumers. Advancements in technology and research efforts focused on developing innovative plant fat replacers are expected to open new growth opportunities in the market. Replacing animal fats with plant-based lipids: challenges and opportunities Gumus-Bonacina, C.E., et al. , Current Opinion in Food Science , 101193, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2024.101193 There is growing interest in replacing meat products with plant-based alternatives for environmental, health, and animal welfare reasons. Plant-based meat analogs are usually designed to have sensorial characteristics that match those of real meat. Lipids play a significant role in this. Therefore, there is interest in using structured plant-based lipids, like oleogels and emul sions, to replace the adipose tissue and other fats in meat ana logs. Moreover, there is interest in creating natural antioxidant