When taking a bite of a juicy wagyu steak, we can savour a distinct flavour, creaminess, richness and mouthfeel thanks to its tasty, unique mix of fats. Yet though delicious, too much animal-based fat in one’s diet can cause health complications due to their high saturated fat content. As such, more people are looking to plant-based fat substitutes—not just for health reasons, but ethical and environmental ones, as intensive livestock farming has been linked to climate change and animal welfare issues.
However, it isn’t easy to make these substitutes as delicious or nutritious as their originals. “Early fat substitutes—mainly mixtures of fatty acids, or structured or modified lipids—had potential drawbacks. They had detrimental gastrointestinal effects, or could inhibit the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and minerals,” explained Shaun Sim, Group Lead of Food Materials Science at the A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (A*STAR SIFBI).
Though new techniques have led to new substitutes that retain natural lipids, such as emulsions and gels, Sim added that their production often involves high temperatures and pH changes. These conditions make it challenging to infuse these substitutes with delicate flavour and bioactive molecules that could improve their nutritional value, sensory properties and overall consumer appeal.
Sim, A*STAR SIFBI Research Officer Yan Kang and colleagues teamed up with the A*STAR Skin Research Labs (A*STAR SRL) to develop a protein emulsion gel (PEG) that could closely mimic chicken fat in look, feel and taste, but consist of less saturated fats.
“Our PEG is formed by High-Pressure Processing (HPP), which uses pressure instead of heat to structurally modify food while retaining its nutrients and sensory properties,” said Sim.
To create their PEG, the team combined olive oil and water with faba bean protein concentrate. Olive oil was chosen as it contains mostly unsaturated fat, while faba bean was chosen as a promising but underexplored high-protein crop that can be sustainably grown.
After producing PEGs with different oil (40–60 percent) and protein concentrations (7–10 percent), the team compared them to chicken fat in various parameters such as appearance, colour, texture, oil-holding capacity and freeze-thaw stability.
They found that faba bean PEGs with lower protein concentrations—especially PEGs composed of 7 percent protein and 40 percent oil—most closely resembled chicken fat in texture and gel strength. On the other hand, gels with more protein were closer to the colour of chicken fat and had better oil-holding capacity.
Sim noted that their findings showed how PEG protein and oil concentrations can be tweaked to suit different uses. “For instance, we can increase a PEG’s protein concentration to better mimic pork lard, which is generally harder and denser than the fats found under chicken skin,” said Sim.
The team is currently improving their PEG’s freeze-thawing stability for cold storage and transport. “We will also work on modifying the PEG’s taste, texture and effectiveness in retaining specific flavours and nutrients,” Sim added.
The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (A*STAR SIFBI) and A*STAR Skin Research Labs (A*STAR SRL).
