The fats saturated, which are found in foods of animal origin such as butter, cheese and fatty meat or vegetable oils such as coconut and palm, raise levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL), thus increasing cardiovascular risk. However, their properties make them ideal for industrial bakeryalthough now a team of scientists offers an alternative.
The sensory properties of croissants made with olive and sunflower oil oleogels, without saturated fat, are very similar to those of conventional food
A work coordinated by the doctors Ana Salvador Y Theresa Sanz of Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA, a center of the CSIC) has achieved the total replacement of solid fats by oleogels in the production of croissants and other bakery and confectionery foods, such as chocolates or chocolate spreads.
These oleogels or oil gels have been formulated with various types of sunflower and olive oiltogether with different hydrocolloids or food emulsifiers, obtaining texture patterns that mimic the plasticity of solid fats.
Two important advantages
The agents thickeners used are for food usesuch as xanthan gum or cellulose derivatives, unlike other oleogels in which the additives used as structuring agents do not offer this guarantee.
It is one of its advantages, along with the simplicity of the process process, which does not require high temperatures, which makes it easily transferable to the food industry, as well as being an environmentally friendly method.
The structure and sensory properties of the final product are very similar to those of conventional food, but with a healthy lipid profile.
It is an interesting strategy to obtain healthier bakery and confectionery products while maintaining the techno-functional and sensory properties.
According to the authors, their results are relevant in the field of design of new foods and ingredients, and have a great potential in the food sectorsince they represent an interesting strategy to obtain healthier bakery and confectionery products while maintaining the techno-functional and sensory properties of their traditional counterparts.
The method could be applied in puff pastrieschocolate substitutes, cookies, chocolate creams, in short, in all those food products that require a solid fat at room temperature in their manufacturing process.
In the case of croissants, managing to replace fats is one of the most difficult applications since they require those that have high plasticity, capable of forming sheets without melting. These thin films of fat will later melt in the oven, giving rise to the characteristic lamellar structure of puff pastries, which is so appreciated.
This study has been carried out within the framework of a national project in which doctors Isabel Hernando and Amparo Quiles from the Microstructure and Food Chemistry Group of the Polytechnic university of Valencia (UPV).
Rights: Creative Commons.
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