Design of Fat Alternatives Using Saturated Monoglycerides

Traditional fats, used in the formulation of many high-consumption foods are characterized by the presence of a fat crystal network mainly made of saturated fatty acids (SFA). Despite conferring food unique structural and sensory properties, the lipidic composition of traditional fats has raised increasing concerns associated with the spread of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Fat substitution with alternatives characterized by a more equilibrated lipid composition is thus unanimously considered a priority to increase the food nutritional profile and sustainability. In this context, the structuring of liquid oils into semi-solid materials with a composition rich in unsaturated fatty acids but structural properties analogous to that of traditional SFA-rich fats is particularly promising. To this aim, a plethora of structuring molecules has been proposed to date. Among them, saturated monoglycerides (MGs) have the peculiar ability to self-assemble into several different hierarchical structures, which can be exploited to prepare fat alternatives. Depending on system composition and environmental conditions, MG-based hydrogels, hydro-foams, oleogels, oleo-foam and structured emulsions can be obtained. This review describes the structural properties of these MG-based fat alternatives, along with the formulation and processing factors affecting MG self-assembly capacity. An approach for the design of food using these promising structures is then presented along with a discussion of their potential functionalities.