Chapter 5: Food Structure Development in Oil and Fat Systems

Recent advances in the field of lipid science have led to the development of methods through which the nanoscale of lipids can be visualized and characterized. Additionally, the aggregation of these nanoscale crystals and the structures they form can now be examined. These developments, in combination with traditional microscopy techniques, provide researchers with a comprehensive understanding of fat crystal networks and how they are formed. This chapter aims to outline the techniques that are available to characterize the structure of fat crystal networks. Furthermore, the use of these methods has allowed for the study of how various factors, both internal and external, affect the crystallization process and the structure of the crystal network formed. This in turn has improved the understanding of how both the nano- and microstructure of a fat crystal network affects the functional properties of a fat system. A more comprehensive understanding of the conditions affecting the crystal structure means that key functional characteristics such as oil binding capacity and rheological properties can be tailored for a variety of applications.