Improvement strategies for fats and oils used in future food processing based on health orientation and sustainability: research progress, challenges and solutions

Abstract

As the third largest source of energy in addition to carbohydrates and proteins, lipids provide the body with more than twice as much energy as carbohydrates and proteins and are the accumulated “fuel bank” of the body. They are widely stored in animals, plants and microorganisms and are effectively extracted for dietary use by improved and novel technologies. Under the pressure of the current environment, we should immediately look for new strategies to improve or develop dietary lipids that are compatible with the development of the future food industry, in order to mitigate the environmental and climatic degradation caused by the lipid-producing activities of the animal husbandry industry, to avoid the contradiction between the demand for high quality of human beings and the strain on the resources, and to reduce the health risks caused by saturated fats and trans-fats in meat products. At present, workers concerned are opening up new avenues for the future edible lipids, for example, researches into fat and oil substitutes, the use of biotechnology in lipids and the value-added reuse of waste products is in full swing. The article therefore began with a detailed overview of the known lipids available, understanding their origins and the ways in which they were classified by region. Secondly, possible trends and potential strategies for dietary lipids for use in future foods were presented. Finally, constructive comments are made on the problems and challenges that may be encountered in the research and subsequent industrialization process.

Keywords:

• Future oils and fat foods
• sustainability
• health perceptions
• improvement strategies

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial supports from the National Key R&D Program of China (No.2022YFD2100601), Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory Project of Advanced Food Manufacturing Equipment and Technology (No. FMZ202003), National First-Class Discipline Program of Food Science and Technology (No. JUFSTR20180205), all of which enabled us to carry out this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.