LAUSR

Water-in-oil emulsions are increasingly sought by the food industry for the development of foods with targeted attributes such as reduced caloric load or lowered production costs. In addition to the structure and rheology of fat crystal networks, which largely depend on composition and processing, the integration of a dispersed aqueous phase as a filler within a fat crystal matrix offers a complementary tool to tailor the structure and rheology of the resulting composite. Inspired by the extensive body of literature on oil-in-water emulsion gels, factors that govern the formation, structure and rheology of fat crystal-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions, along with relevant processed food examples, are explored. Onus is placed on the contributions of dispersed aqueous droplets to fat crystal network rheology and the implicit role of fat crystallization.