Donut study offers hope for PHO replacement
Enzymatically interesterfied conventional soybean oil (EIE), with a little tweaking, could be an effective replacement for partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) in donuts, according to a recent report in the American Oil Chemists Society’s Inform Magazine.
A donut deep-frying study carried out by Qualisoy and Stratas Foods LLC compared donuts prepared with a typical PHO soybean donut shortening with those fried in palm/soy blend, EIE conventional soybeal oil, and EIE high-oleic soybean oil.
EIE high-oleic soybean oil, which has a fatty acid profile similar to PHO, outperformed the other oils in oil fry life and oil weeping—the process by which oil leaches out of the donut at room temperature, negatively impacting both mouth feel and frosting or glazes.
Frank Filder, an edible oils consultant for Qualisoy, tells Inform Magazine that although PHO soybean oil continues to outperform the others, “the small gap between EIE high oleic soybean oil and PHO soybean oil can be closed even further by optimizing the fatt acid profiles prior to interestification.”
Category: Research
