Plant tissue-based scaffolds filled with oil function as adipose tissue mimetics

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Materials Science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Animal adipose tissue provides unique texture and cooking properties to meat products.
• Plant-based meat analogues often lack the desirable sensory and textural characteristics of animal fats.
• Polysaccharide-based cellular structures in plants offer potential as scaffolds for fat incorporation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop plant-based scaffolds that replicate the structure and function of animal adipose tissue.
• To evaluate the potential of these scaffolds in improving the quality of plant-based meat analogues.

Main Methods:

• Freeze-drying of plant materials (carrots, broccoli, asparagus) to create cellulosic scaffolds.
• Infiltration of scaffolds with peanut oil, its glycerolysis product (GP), and GP-based oleogel.
• Analysis of oil binding capacity, oil loss, texture, and rheological behavior compared to native adipose tissue.

Main Results:

• Oleogel-filled plant scaffolds demonstrated high oil binding capacity (≥95%) and minimal oil loss, similar to adipose tissue.
• Texture analysis showed that oleogel-filled asparagus and broccoli closely mimicked pork and beef adipose tissues, respectively.
• Plant scaffolds exhibited temperature-dependent rheological behavior comparable to native adipose tissue.

Conclusions:

• Cellulosic scaffolds derived from plants can effectively replicate the properties of animal adipose tissue.
• These plant-based fat mimetics can significantly improve the quality of plant-based meat analogues.
• The developed materials prevent thermal softening and excessive oil loss during cooking, enhancing product appeal.