Professor Stephen Euston of Heriot-Watt University in Scotland is working on replacing coconut and palm oil in vegan cheese substitutes with healthier sunflower or rapeseed oil grown and produced in the UK.

“Vegetable oils have a lower saturated fat content; the challenge is to process them in such a way that they behave like solid fat, so that the vegan cheese has a texture similar to that of ‘normal’ cheese. We place great importance on reducing food transport distances, so we are focusing on the use of plants that can be grown sustainably and on a large scale in the UK,” said Euston.

The scientists are using a technique called oleogelling: special molecules, known as oleogelling agents, are added to liquid oil and form microscopic structures that trap the oil within a 3D structure. The result is a gel that behaves like solid fat.

The team also tested the cheese’s ‘meltability’ and found that their plant-oil-based version melted better than several commercially available coconut oil-based products.

Euston’s formula reduces the saturated fat content in cheese alternatives to as little as 3%.

Euston has published his research in *Food Chemistry*.

Photo: Planteneers