Structured Lipids in Food Industry and their Functional Effects

Structured lipids are oils and fats whose physical and nutritional properties are modified by changes in the position or type of triglyceride-containing fatty acids. In structured lipids the unique characteristics of the fatty acids combine to enhance the nutritional, technological or medicinal value of the final product. The most important mechanism used in the synthesis of structured lipids is inter-esterification, which can be applied chemically or enzymatically. Structured lipids are produced by chemical, enzymatic orgenetic method. In chemical synthesis, the control of the distribution of fatty acids in specific positionsis very difficult and the reaction is not specific. The enzyme syntheses are carried out under lower temperature conditions and fewer sub-reactions and byproducts are produced. Structured lipids have a variety of applications such as producing low-calorie fats, modifying the physicochemical properties of fats such as oxidative stability, producing specific oils for different industrial applications such as bakery, frying oil and producing fat substitutes with defined characteristics such as cocoa butter alternatives.