Protein-based Fat Replacers – A Review of Recent Advances

Excessive consumption of fat especially consisting of saturated and hydrogenated fat has been reported to result in adverse effects on health, having been correlated to chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, some cancer and cardiovascular disorders. However, presence of fat in food is desirable as it improves the accepability, palatability, textural properties, emulsion properties, etc. Hence, the need to substitute fat, using fat replacers in food. Fat replacers replace fat molecules in the food with components that have similar properties. These fat replacers provide lower calorific value than the fat molecules. Of all the known fat replacers, those consisting of protein have shown an ability to replace maximum percentage of fat. The functional properties of protein in food thus make it suitable for fat replacement. Based on the source of availability, protein-fat replacers can be classified into animal and plant-based protein-fat replacers. This review attempts a critical evaluation on the classification of protein-based fat replacers, their source, extraction, processing methods, type/form, properties and their effects on food.