Abstract: With the increasing interest of consumers in the relationship between diet and health, how to replace animal fat, containing a large amount of saturated fatty acids, in meat products has become a hot topic in the field of meat science. However, simply reducing the use of animal fat could significantly reduce the flavor, tenderness and juiciness of meat products. Recently, more and more research has focused on the potential application of emulsion gels as animal fat replacers in meat products due to their unique structures and functional properties. This article provides an extensive review of the literature on the preparation, quality characteristics and application in low-fat meat products of emulsion gels in order to establish a good theoretical basis for the application of emulsion gels to replace animal fat in meat products and to provide innovative technical support for the development of value-added low-fat health and nutritious meat products.

Key words: emulsion gels, replacement of animal fat, low-fat meat products, quality