Recent developments and prospects in the extraction, composition, stability, food applications, and in vitro digestion of plant oil bodies

Abstract Oil bodies (OBs) are micron‐ or submicron‐sized sub‐organelles widely found in plants seeds and nuts. The structure of OBs is composed of a core of neutral lipids covered by a phospholipid‐protein layer, which ensures the stability of OBs under extreme environmental conditions and further protects core lipids as energy reserves. As naturally pre‐emulsified oil‐in‐water emulsions, OBs have been gradually applied to replace synthetically engineered oil droplets. In this paper, the recent research on the extraction, composition, stability, food applications, in vitro digestion, and future perspectives of plant OBs were reviewed. Recent studies have focused on the large‐scale extraction techniques and OBs surface protein identification and function. Electrostatic deposition and viscosity effect of polysaccharides significantly improve the stability of OBs emulsions. OBs have broad application prospects in replacing milk fat droplets, as fat replacers and delivery vehicles, and fabricating emulsion‐gels, oleogels or edible films. Notably, oleosins present a potential allergen risk. OBs are digested slowly, resulting in increased satiety and effectively helping to reduce calorie intake, but this can negatively affect the bioaccessibility of nutritional compounds in OBs. When OB as a delivery vehicle, its natural structure may be disrupted, whereas OBs‐based delivery system facilitates the bioaccessibility of hydrophobic active compounds.