Uses of a Novel Low-Saturate, Zero-Trans Shortening Alternative in Traditional Baking

Sarah Langmaid, Carolyn Challacombe, Brittany Huschka, Steve Bernet, Alejandro Marangoni
CoaSun Corporation and University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario

from a presentation presented at the University of Guelph Human Nutraceutical Research Unit

The Trans Fat Problem
Obesity and cardiovascular disease are of increasing concern to Canadians. 26% of young Canadians are overweight or obese. Many preventable diseases are associated with being overweight or obese including: cardiovascular disease, joint problems, and type II diabetes which can lead to premature death (Merrifield, Rob. 2007. Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids. Report of the Standing Committee on Health. 39th Parliament 1st session).

The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation the American Heart Association, the Institute of Medicine, among many others, have strongly recommended a reduction in the amount of trans and saturated fats in our diets. Trans fats have a double negative effect on cardiovascular health by increasing LDL (the bad) cholesterol while decreasing HDL (the good) cholesterol.

The Challenge
Despite the recommendations that Canadians reduce the amount of trans fats in their diets many snack foods rely on trans fats for their functionality and industry has yet to find an appropriate fat replacement.

Trans fats are produced from the partial hydrogenation of liquid oils. This results in a plastic fat with a higher melting point and improved resistance to oxidation, which increases the shelf life of both the fat and the final product. A replacement must share the functionality of these trans fats to maintain the product convenience and quality consumers expect.

A popular solution is to replace trans fats with saturated tropical oils, such as palm oil; however, this is not a long term viable solution for health as tropical fats have significant amounts of atherogenic saturated fats.

The CoaSun Solution
By physically structuring liquid oils and forming a semi-solid paste, much of the functionality associated with trans fats can be maintained, while improving nutritional profiles. Any vegetable oil or blend of vegetable oils with other fats can be used to make the material.  Nutraceutical products can also be manufactured by adding oil soluble adjuncts, such as vitamin E and phytosterols, to the oil phase. The health benefits of the shortening reflect the type of oil used.

 The Coasun material is structured by crystallized liquid crystalline monoglyceride mesophases and has been shown to have remarkable baking functionality. Above its Krafft temperature, monostearin liquid crystalline phases can be used to stabilize oil in water phase inverted emulsions. Oil is sheared in the presence of the self-assembled liquid crystalline phase to form multilayers around the newly formed droplets. Upon cooling, the multilayers crystallize forming crystal hydrates called alpha-gels and upon dehydration, beta-gels (or coagels). Electrostatic interactions are then adjusted to induce the aggregation of the solid droplets, resulting in a cellular-solid like structured material.

Figure 1. A) Confocal laser scanning micrographs of COASUN, where lipids are stained with Nile Red and water with coumarin (blue). B) Polarized light micrograph of COASUN showing birefringent monoglyceride cell walls surrounding oil droplets.

Benefits of Coasun
Economy:
By utilizing oils derived from locally grown crops to produce a functional shortening for baked goods, we are able to stimulate local agriculture, the agri-food industry and rural economies, and limit the exponential growth in offshore tropical fat imports.

Health:
Since the material contains zero trans fats and is very low in saturates all of the allowed (Canadian) nutritional claims that are tied to saturated fat content of the food can be made. The nutritional profile of the shortening can be seen in Table 1.

 The unique structuring of the oils gives CoaSunTM additional metabolic advantages. These include an attenuated increase in blood triglycerides and free fatty acids, as well as an attenuated increase in insulin levels after acute consumption of CoaSunTM.

Figure 2. Changes in serum triacylglycerol (A), free fatty acids (B), glucose (C) and insulin (D) levels after acute consumption of COASUN shortening alternative (mag gel) relative to compositionally equivalent oil-water mixtures (oil).

 Applications of Coasun
The cellular solid matrix imparts exceptional tribological (lubrication and coating) characteristics during mixing, creaming (air incorporation and stabilization, water binding and emulsification characteristics, making it ideal as a trans fat free shortening alternative. Extensive studies and testing have demonstrated that Coasun can substitute ordinary shortenings and bakers’ margarines in muffins, cakes, cookies, brownies, scones, tea biscuits, pie and tart shells and biscotti with no quality compromises.

Figure 3. A pie shell (A) and a croissant (B), made with Coasun as the shortening. A dollop of Coasun (C) next to a ball of pie dough with Coasun incorporated as the shortening (D).