Production, health implications and applications of oleogels as fat replacer in food system: A review

Abstract Various food formulations widely utilized solid fats to provide specific textural properties and sensory attributes. Partially hydrogenated oil was commonly used as solid fat before being banned by FDA recently because of the existence of trans fats. Oleogels, semi‐solid gel typically prepared from liquid vegetable oil and food‐grade oleogelators, is developed as an alternative for solid fats that is free of trans fat and low in saturated fats. Oleogels are prepared via indirect or direct oleogelation technology by which the liquid oil is entrapped in a three‐dimensional network with the aid of low molecular weight oleogelators (LMOGs) and high molecular weight oleogelators (HMOGs). Oleogels received tremendous attention from food scientists to be used in various food applications, particularly high‐fat products such as comminuted meat, chocolates, ice cream, shortening and margarine and even as a deep‐frying medium. They satisfy not only the current trends of consumers for healthy food products (free of trans fat and low in saturated fat) but also provide viscoelastic solid‐ and gel‐ like properties to structure high fat food products. More importantly, recent studies showed that oleogels tend to be metabolized differently from conventional fats and oils giving them an additional advantage in improving the nutritional value of high‐fat foods. Therefore, this review aims to provide an overview that captures the latest studies on oleogels from their production via direct dispersion and indirect dispersion methods, processing conditions that influence the physical properties, metabolism and health attributes as well as recent application in food products.