Enzymatically intra-esterified Cottonseed oil (EIE CSO) as base oil to produce low-fat spreads

Hydrogenated and/ or Palm-based fats are widely used in structured food systems as they provide critical functionalities like crystal-structuring, texture-improvement and stabilization.  However, as sustainability and health awareness has increased the quest of non-Palm and non-hydrogenated base oils in structured foods has garnered scientific interests. This paper focuses on addressing this trend by demonstrating the functional competence of enzymatically intraesterified cottonseed oil (EIE CSO) as base oils to develop structured foods, specifically low-fat spreads. In this study, the influence of EIE CSO on stability, texture post-hardening and sensory parameters of 60% fat spreads was investigated. Fat spreads made from a soybean-palm-palm kernel blend was used as a control for efficiency determination. Fat spreads produced using EIE CSO was found to have acceptable texture and sensory attributes. The spreads were relatively softer than control, but stability and sensory attributes were comparable. Findings proves the effectiveness of the concept and EIE CSO as alternative to current fat systems.

This work is a follow-up to the paper being presented at AOCS 2025 - The use of immobilized lipase to modify the physical properties of cottonseed oil.