Formation and Performance of Red Palm Oil Emulsion Gel Stabilized by Soy Protein Concentrate–Carrageenan for Animal Fat Substitute in Beef Sausage

Red palm oil (RPO) is rich in β-carotene but has not been used widely due to its liquid consistency. In this study, RPO was structured via emulsion gelation with different oil fractions (10, 20, and 30% w/w), stabilized with soy protein concentrate and carrageenan, and prepared with and without glucono-delta-lactone (GDL). Emulsion gel 30% with GDL (RPO-EG30) had the highest viscosity value, the smallest oil droplet, and better retention of β-carotene. Different percentages of fat substitution resulted in a comparable cooking loss to the control (4–5%). When beef fat was completely replaced with RPO-EG30, the sausage had a high level of β-carotene (247.46 ± 14.44 ppm). At 100% substitution, the fat content and calories of the sausages decreased by approximately 50 and 20%, respectively. The degradation rate and half-life time of β-carotene in the beef sausages formulated with EG30 at 10, 35, and 45 °C were 0.029, 0.0031, 0.0037/day, respectively.