Physicochemical Properties and Polymorphic Behavior of Tropical Fats: Their Potential and Practical Use in Trans-free Food Systems

RAMOS-RAMOS MARIA REGINA; VICTOR GARCIA LONDOÑO; BORRONI V.; HERRERA M.L.

DEVELOPMENT OF TRANS-FREE LIPID SYSTEMS AND THEIR USE IN FOOD PRODUCTS

Royal Society of Chemistry

Año: 2022; p. 119 - 138

Trans-fat legislation forced the food industry to reformulate its products. Tropical fatsare semi-solid edible vegetable fats and natural sources of symmetrical stearic-richtriacylglycerols. They do not contain trans-fat but they contain a high percentage ofsaturated fats. To lower saturated fatty acid content, tropical fats were blended orinteresterified with vegetable oils to obtain free trans-fat, low-saturated fatshortenings. These formulations, improved from the nutritional point of view, widentropical fats applications in margarines, non-dairy creams, shortenings for bakeryand frying, chocolate, and confectionery. This chapter summarizes successfulexamples of tropical fats formulations used as trans-fat alternatives.