Technological innovations in margarine production: Current trends and future perspectives on trans-fat removal and saturated fat replacement

The margarine market is growing globally due to its lower cost, ease of availability, large-scale commercialization, and expanding market in the bakery and confectionary industries. Butter contains greater amounts of saturated fat and has been associated with cardiovascular diseases. The trans fats generated through the hydrogenation process have several adverse impacts on human health, such as the risk of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, postmenopausal breast cancer, vision and neurological system impairment, type II diabetes, and obesity. Therefore, it is important to formulate margarine, low in saturated and trans fats using innovative technologies such as novel hydrogenation, interesterification techniques, and oleogel technology. By utilizing these technologies and oils with a healthy lipid profile, margarine manufacturers are able to produce healthier margarine. This review covers recent technological advancements in margarine, which include various hydrogenation techniques such as high-voltage atmospheric cold plasma hydrogenation, microwave plasma hydrogenation, dielectric-barrier discharge plasma hydrogenation, and interesterification based on supercritical CO₂ systems. In addition, the application of interesterified oil and oleogel (structured vegetable oils) in the production of margarine low in saturated fat is comprehensively discussed, with emphasis on the utilization of unconventional sources of oils such as tiger nut oil, Moringa oleifera seed oil, Irvingia gabonensis seed fat, winged bean oil, and hemp seed oil. The novel hydrogenation techniques can hydrogenate oils without formation of trans fats, and such hydrogenated oils could be employed in the formulation of trans-fat-free margarine. Interesterified oil treated with supercritical CO₂ was employed in healthy margarine development. Using the oleogel technique, various unconventional oil sources can be used in margarine formulations. The incorporation of oleogel in margarine makes it possible to improve the lipid profile of margarine due to a reduction in saturated fat content. All of these novel techniques have the potential to revolutionize the margarine industry by enabling the production of high-quality, healthy margarine.