Fats & oils A
ccording to Whole Foods Market, 2023 was the year that avocado oil was set to go mainstream. While being a staple of the natural food category for years, the company reasoned in their 2022 report on upcoming food trends, avocado oil could now be found on grocery shelves. They weren’t off the mark. Miraj Shah, director of Crofts Avocado Oil, shares that demand for the product has grown hugely in the years following the coronavirus pandemic. “That was really a driver for people to understand more about healthy living,” he says. Plus, adds Alice Aird, who manages global marketing and UK/EU logistics at avocado oil producer Olivado, practical hurdles like oil shortages due to the war in Ukraine, export issues and failed crops have also driven interest.
And its star still appears to be on the rise. From 2023–2027, market research firm Technavio forecasts the global avocado oil market size to grow by $516.45 million, which amounts to a yearly growth rate of 12.95%. Another firm, Research and Markets, puts the estimated value of the global avocado oil market at $1bn by 2032.
“It has some big positive attributes – including high oleic fatty acid content and a high smoke point – to thank for its popularity,” reads the Whole Foods Market report. And it seems that health-conscious consumers are increasingly willing to pay for a product they see as premium quality and better for them.
A healthier choice Avocado is a healthy oil for people to choose, says dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, Tracy Parker. One of its main benefits is that it is low in saturated fat (this makes up around 12% of its content) and high in monounsaturated fats, like oleic acid. Saturated and unsaturated fats are the two main types of fat found in food. The difference lies in their chemical structure, which determines their distinct properties – including their impacts on health. The latter kind are sometimes referred to as ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ fats, because in moderate quantities they can improve cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation and support the body to function at its best. Saturated fats, on the other hand, can increase cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and stroke. “Our current advice is that it’s better for our hearts to replace saturated fats, so that’s from butters, lards, coconut oil etcetera, with unsaturated fat,” Parker explains. Plus, avocado oil is a really good source of vitamin E, she adds. “Which is a natural antioxidant, so that helps to protect our membranes from damage and inflammation.” It contains other antioxidants, like lutein and polyphenols, as well. “Because it’s a higher monounsaturated oil, it also has quite a high smoke point,” Parker says. “The
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
higher the smoke point of fat and oil, the greater the stability.” The smoke point is when the fatty acids within the oil begin to break down and burn. Not only does this change the oil’s taste and composition, but it can diminish its nutritional value, too. This means that avocado oil can be used for cooking at higher temperatures. For extra virgin avocado oils, which are not subject to high- temperature processing, the smoke point might be around 180–250ºC, depending on the producer. Refined oils will have a higher smoke point of around 270ºC, though most people are unlikely to be cooking at high enough temperatures at home for common oils to reach their smoke point, Parker notes. She gives an example: if you were frying an egg, the cooking temperature would be about 170ºC. Yet the smoke point of most oils is over 180ºC. It is more of a concern for commercial food production and restaurant kitchens.
An all-rounder
Compared to olive oil, perhaps the best known ‘healthy’ fat, avocado oil is more subtle in flavour. You could liken it to a ripe avocado, Shah explains. “It doesn’t have a very strong smell, it doesn’t really have a very punchy sort of flavour. It’s very mellow, it’s very buttery. And that’s what we translate into the oil.” Because of this, it can be used to cook food without changing its flavour, he adds. And if you were to use it as is, for instance in dressings or dips, you would get that light, creamy avocado taste.
While avocado oil is mostly a consumer product, Shah shares that there has been demand from food service companies, restaurants and hotels to include it in their cooking. Mostly, though, this is for use in salad dressings, he says, due to cost. “It does become quite expensive to use it as a frying oil, and that’s mainly because of the cost of
59
Avocado oil is gaining popularity due to its heart-healthy fats, high smoke point and increasing consumer demand for premium, naturally sourced oils.
Gayvoronskaya_Yana/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94
