Stabilized soy protein emulsion enriched with silicon and containing or not methylcellulose as novel technological alternatives to reduce animal fat digestion

• Published in: Food research international 2023-08, Vol.170, p.112833-112833, Article 112833
• Main Authors: Cofrades, Susana, Garcimartín, Alba, Pérez-Mateos, Miriam, Saiz, Arancha, Redondo-Castillejo, Rocío, Bocanegra, Aránzazu, Benedí, Juana, Dolores Álvarez, María
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biopolymeric emulsions; Digestion; Emulsions; Functional Food; In vitro gastrointestinal digestion; Methylcellulose; Rheological properties; Silicon; Soybean Proteins
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112833

[Display omitted] •Methylcellulose or silicon emulsions reduced pork fat digestibility.•Silicon lost its reducing effect on fat digestibility in presence of methycellulose.•Flow behavior index can be a predictive marker of the extent of lipolysis.•Methylcellulose or silicon emulsions could replace pork lard in animal products with potential health benefits. During the last decade, the consumption of animal saturated fat has been associated with an increased risk of chronic disease. Experience shows that changing the dietary habits of the population is a complicated and slow process, so technological strategies offer new possibilities for the development of functional foods. The present work is focused on studying the impact of using a food-grade non-ionic hydrocolloid (methylcellulose; MC) and/or the inclusion of silicon (Si) as a bioactive compound in pork lard emulsions stabilized with soy protein concentrate (SPC), on the structure, rheology, lipid digestibility and Si bioaccesibility during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (GID). Four emulsions (SPC, SPC/Si, SPC/MC and SPC/MC/Si) were prepared with a final biopolymer (SPC and/or MC) concentration of 4% and 0.24% Si. The results showed a lower degree of lipid digestion in SPC/MC compared with SPC, specifically at the end of the intestinal phase. Moreover, Si partially reduced fat digestion only when incorporated into the SPC-stabilized emulsion, while this effect was lost in SPC/MC/Si. This was probably due to its retention inside the matrix emulsion, which resulted in lower bioaccesibility than in SPC/Si. Additionally, the correlation between the flow behavior index (n) and the lipid absorbable fraction was significant, suggesting that n can be a predictive marker of the extent of lipolysis. Concretely, our results revealed that SPC/Si and SPC/MC can be used as pork fat digestion reducers and thus, they can replace pork lard in the reformulation of animal products with potential health benefits.