Aspectos tecnológicos dos substitutos de gordura e suas aplicações em produtos lácteos

The consumption of fat related to the incidence of diseases has motivated the development of food with less or even no fat. However, fat is important for the full functioning of the human body and sensory characteristics of food. Therefore, making food with little or no fat and at the same time maintaining the desired quality is a challenge for the industry. Fat substitutes were created to achieve this objective. Fat substitutes can be more effective in their applications when mixtures of different types of them are used. The number and variety of these ingredients are still growing, expanding options of choice when a fat substitute is required in a certain type of food. Considering the importance of fat substitutes nowadays, this paper presents an overview of functions and implications of fats in the human body and food, the terminology used to refer to fat substitutes, the categories of different types of fat substitutes available in the market and their applications in dairy products.