Enhanced chiffon cake quality using tannic acid cross-linked diacylglycerol oleogels as a replacement of butter.

BACKGROUND

In the present study, a composite comprising konjac glucomannan (KGM), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and tannic acid (TA) was employed for the fabrication of emulsion-templated diacylglycerol oleogels (E-DGOs). The potential use of the E-DGOs as a 50% replacement for butter in chiffon cakes was explored, with the direct method-prepared DG oleogels (D-DGOs) serving as a comparison.

RESULTS

The rheological analysis demonstrated that the incorporation of TA (0.15 wt%) led to the enhanced thixotropic recovery characteristics in E-DGOs. The low-field NMR results indicated that oleogels formulated with TA facilitated the formation of a uniform matrix distribution in chiffon cakes and inhibited the migration of moisture and fat during storage. In comparison with the D-DGO-based cakes, the samples containing E-DGOs exhibited superior appearance and texture. The texture score of the TA-DGO cake was 6.44, which was similar to that of the butter cake (6.72).

CONCLUSION

The present study reveals that the E-DGO-based cakes have performance and sensory scores comparable to butter cakes. These findings provide a reference point for the construction of KGM-HPMC-TA based E-DGOs as a partial replacement for butter in chiffon cakes. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.