Next-generation structured lipid systems in plant-based meat: oleogels, emulsion architectures, and sensory optimizationDownload PDF Download PDF ReviewOpen accessPublished: 03 July 2026Sadaqat Ali1,Anand Kumar1,Benish Ali2,Gita Rani3,Hammad Ali Fadlalmola4,Saad Alghamdi5,Asgar Ali6 &…Li Zhang7 npj Science of Food (2026) Cite this article We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.SubjectsBiotechnologyChemistryEngineeringMaterials scienceAbstractStructured lipid systems improve the sensory, nutritional, and functional properties of plant-based meat by mimicking natural animal fat. This review examines oleogels, emulsion gels, Pickering emulsions, high-internal-phase emulsions, and hybrid lipid architectures, focusing on key structure-property-processing-sensory relationships. Critical design targets, processing compatibility, and nutritional opportunities are highlighted, providing a solid mechanistic framework for precision lipid engineering of scalable and realistic next-generation plant-based meat products.AcknowledgementsOpen access publishing facilitated by United Arab Emirates University.Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsCollege of Food Science and Engineering, Guangdong Ocean University, Guangdong, ChinaSadaqat Ali & Anand KumarDepartment of Orthotics and Prosthetics, Government College University, Faisalabad, PakistanBenish AliDepartment of Chemistry, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, IndiaGita RaniDepartment of Community Health Nursing, Nursing College, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi ArabiaHammad Ali FadlalmolaClinical Laboratory Sciences Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi ArabiaSaad AlghamdiDepartment of Integrative Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab EmiratesAsgar AliCollege of Coastal Agriculturssal Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, ChinaLi ZhangAuthorsSadaqat AliView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAnand KumarView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarBenish AliView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarGita RaniView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarHammad Ali FadlalmolaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSaad AlghamdiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAsgar AliView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarLi ZhangView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarCorresponding authorsCorrespondence to Asgar Ali or Li Zhang.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Additional informationPublisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Rights and permissionsOpen Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.Reprints and permissionsAbout this article