Abstract

Obesity and cardiovascular diseases are among the most worrying health problems worldwide. Dietary habits can be catalysts for the rise of these health issues in western countries. In this work, a meat product (pork patties) commonly elaborated with a high fraction of saturated fat is reformulated with an oleogel based on linseed oil (rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids). The oleogel is used for the partial replacement of the solid fat fraction present in pork patties (H-25 for 25% and H-75 for 75% of replacement). Incorporation of oleogels results in the modification of the fatty acid profile and in the significant decrease of the omega-6/omega-3 ratio. Results show that for both degrees of fat substitution, there are no differences between the patties produced with oleogel incorporation and the control, regarding textural parameters such as hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness. Overall, samples with less amount of oleogel (H-25) are well classified in the acceptance and preference tests, despite the clear preference among the sensorial panel toward the control samples. These results show the feasibility of introducing oleogels as a fat replacer in the manufacturing process of pork patties, though there is still work to be done regarding some of their sensorial attributes. Practical Applications: The purpose of this work is focused on the study of the properties of meat patties after the replacement of saturated fat with a multicomponent oleogel, foreseeing the hamburger production. The results show that the oleogel incorporation in meat patties is possible at the industrial level without additional unitary steps during meat patty production. Based on this work it is possible to produce meat patties with adjusted fatty acids profiles.