Abstract: Oil in water (O/W) protein-based emulsion gels and O/W protein-based bigels are two biphasic gel systems prepared from protein-based hydrogels. In recent years, these two gels have attracted much attention for their potential as fat substitutes in meat products and have been applied as new fat simulants to the processing of low-fat meat products. In this paper, the preparation, structure and mechanical properties of O/W protein-based emulsion gels and O/W protein-based bigels and their application as fat simulants in sausage products are systematically reviewed, revealing that they differ in the existing form of oil phase—the oil phase of O/W protein-based emulsion gels exhibits dispersed oil droplets, while that of O/W protein-based bigesl exists in the form of oleogel. This paper suggests that the gel types should be selected reasonably according to the types of sausage products in practice, which provides a good theoretical reference for the application of these two gels in low-fat sausage products.

Key words: oil-in-water protein-based emulsion gel; bigel; fat substitution; sausage product