Improving Lipid Content in Muscle-Based Food: New Strategies for Developing Fat Replacers Based on Gelling Processes Using Healthy Edible Oils

Abstract

Lipids, as food constituents, have been receiving a great deal of attention due to their association with the development of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Since muscle food, mainly meat and meat products, is one of the main sources of fat, great efforts have been made, including by the meat industry, to modify its content. The procedures offering the greatest advantages in terms of opportunity and versatility are based on replacing animal fat with oils of vegetable and/or marine origin in accordance with health recommendations. Gelled fat replacers containing these oils and which are made with solid-fat characteristics are a novel approach to improving the lipid content of food products. Among gelled fat replacers, special attention should be paid to those that include healthy oil emulsion gels and oil bulking agents owing to their nutritional and technological advantages in the development of healthier muscle-based foods containing lipids. This chapter features a review of the importance of improving the lipid profile of food, the possibility of using biopolymers as gelling agents, and novel strategies for using these biopolymers as gelled fat replacers incorporating healthy oils. Different aspects related to the composition, preparation, structural organization, and their applications in the development of healthy muscle food products containing lipids will be described.