Reduction of saturated fat in traditional foods by substitution of ghee with olive and sunflower oils – A case study with halwa

Diet related diseases are increasing at an alarming rate all over the world. Restriction in dietary saturated fat intake is one of the major components in healthy diet as a mean of preventing cardiovascular and other associated diseases. Ghee is one of the high saturated fat types (around 60% saturated fat) which is consumed along with many Asian traditional foods. As a model food, halwa, a traditional confection in Oman, which is popular in domestic and many other gulf countries is modified by replacing ghee with healthy vegetable oils and tested for their acceptability. Three types of halwa, olive oil halwa, sunflower oil halwa and ghee halwa (control) were produced in a commercial production facility and their textural and sensorial attributes were determined. In instrumental texture profiles, there were no significant differences in cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness and gumminess between olive oil, sunflower oil and ghee halwa samples. The hardness of olive oil halwa was the highest and sunflower oil halwa was the lowest among three tested samples. In sensory evaluation of developed halwa products, there was no significant difference in the overall acceptability between ghee and sunflower oil halwa. In blind sensory test, 60% of females and 80% of males selected sunflower oil halwa, and only 10% of females and 10% males selected olive oil halwa as their first choice of preferences. But in informed sensory test, the selection of olive oil halwa as the first choice was increased to 55% in females and 30% in males. About 80% of the panelists in informed sensory test were ready to accept non-ghee halwa the way it was prepared or with product improvement. There are opportunities to modify traditional foods which are rich in saturated fat by replacing with healthy oils, and to educate the people about the health benefits of these modifications.