Effect of traditional fat replacement by oleogel made of beeswax and canola oil on processed meat (steak type) quality

Oleogel (OG) has become an alternative fat ingredient for many foods as well as meat and its related meat products due to its health beneficial effects. The objective of this study was to characterize the processed meat properties as well as analyse the trends of consumer acceptability of meat products by using OG utilization as a fat replacer. Processed meat samples were prepared for 3 groups including i) processed meat (only red part) without any additive addition: control, ii) 50% beef tallow adding: BT, and iii) 50% OG, obtained from beeswax and canola oil mixture, substituting of BT: OG. All meat samples determined the physical, physicochemical, and lipid profiles as well as sensorial properties. The results found that OG treatment showed desirable physical and physicochemical characteristics. The soft texture of the meat sample was observed in the OG group when compared with other treatments. Furthermore, OG replacing the traditional fat in processed meat has significantly reduced the percentage of total saturated fatty acid (SFA, 68.37±2.19) and increased the total unsaturated fatty acid (USFA, 31.63±1.63) (p < 0.05) when compared with BT group treatment (SFA: 79.52±3.72 and USFA: 20.48±0.31). OG treatment also showed improvement in processed meat through the significantly higher score of overall liking from the consumer evaluation (p < 0.05). The results of this study could be used as preliminary results for the development of healthy meat model products, contributing to driving meat consumption together with the reduction of risk factors of metabolic diseases.