Abstract During the manufacture of coarse-ground meat products, the distinctive mechanical and rheological properties of animal adipose tissue enable it to withstand processing operations (e.g., handling, grinding, cutting, mixing, stuffing, cooking, and freezing/thawing) while imparting the visual and textural attributes characteristic of these products. The inherent difficulty of replicating these properties is a primary reason why previous efforts to replace animal fat in coarse-ground meat products have achieved only limited technical and commercial success. However, recent advances in lipid structuring technologies have created new opportunities in this field, enabling the development of fat replacement systems that not only mimic the functional performance of adipose tissue in coarse-ground meat matrices but also allow modulation of the fatty acid profile and serve as potential delivery vehicles for both lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients, such as antioxidants and bioactive compounds. Among these emerging approaches, biphasic gel technology will be discussed as the leading example of lipid structuring strategies with particular promise for fat replacement in coarse-ground meat systems.
Rodrigo Tarté (Wed,) studied this question.