Fat replacement and reduction strategies for plant-based foods

Growing interest in plant-based analogs of traditional animal products is driven by food security, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and health concerns. Fat significantly influences the appearance, texture, mouthfeel, functionality, and nutritional profile of conventional animal-based foods. Thus, effectively incorporating plant-based fats or alternatives into plant-based products is crucial for enhancing sensory and nutritional attributes, ensuring consumer acceptance. This review critically examines current fat replacement and reduction strategies applied in the development of plant-based foods, including meat, egg, and dairy analogs. Conventional approaches, such as chemical, enzymatic, and physical modification, are discussed alongside emerging technologies that draw on soft-matter physics, precision fermentation, genetic engineering, and AI-assisted digital tools. Together, these approaches enable the design of customized lipid architectures with enhanced structural and functional performance. Despite significant advances, major challenges remain in scalability, process integration, regulatory alignment, and sensory validation. Future research should prioritize bridging traditional lipid modification with Industry 4.0 technologies to accelerate the translation of laboratory findings into scalable, industry-ready applications. Advancing these integrated platforms will support the production of sustainable, high-quality plant-based foods that closely replicate the sensory and functional properties of animal fats.