Oleogelation for saturated fat replacement in vegan cheese

Oleogelation was investigated to reduce the saturated fat content of vegan cheese. Oleogels were formulated using a range of oleogelators, oleogelator concentrations and oil phase compositions to study the effect that adjusting these parameters had on both oleogel and vegan cheese properties. Comparing oleogels at an equivalent mass basis of 20 wt%, phytosterol oleogels exhibited greater hardness (5.9 N) than either monoglyceride (1.7 N), stearic acid (0.7 N) or carnauba wax (4.3 N) oleogels. Oleogels generally exhibited lower oxidative stability than the coconut and sunflower oil controls, with phytosterol oleogelators exhibiting a pro-oxidant effect. Oleogel-based vegan cheese properties were highly tuneable, with hardness and adhesiveness levels which could be in excess or below that of the control samples. Furthermore, oleogelled vegan cheese samples exhibited superior meltability whilst offering major reductions in saturated fat content from 28 % in the control to as low as 2 % in oleogel-based vegan cheese samples.