Nutritional properties and in vitro digestibility of high-fat spreadable products: A comparative study of milk fat, plant-based and blended fat spreads

Despite the growing diversity of commercially available fat spreads, comparative studies integrating physicochemical characterization, nutritional quality and standardized in vitro lipid digestion remain limited. This study evaluated three commercial water-in-oil spreads representing the main categories available on the European market: a milk fat spread (MFS, 60% fat), a blended fat spread (BFS) and a vegetable fat spread (VFS) (both 52% fat). A harmonized workflow combining textural, thermal and lipid characterization, nutritional assessment and a modified INFOGEST 2.0 static in vitro digestion protocol adapted to physiological conditions at half-gastric emptying was used to assess the influence of lipid origin and formulation on physicochemical properties and digestive behavior. MFS exhibited the highest hardness and solid fat content (70.7% at 10°C), whereas VFS showed the softest texture and greatest spreadability. BFS displayed the highest oxidative stability, while BFS and VFS contained higher proportions of unsaturated fatty acids (15.1 and 26.1%, respectively) than MFS (2.5%), resulting in lower atherogenicity and thrombogenicity indices and greater contributions to essential fatty acid intake. During gastric digestion, VFS showed a trend toward faster lipolysis, whereas differences among formulations progressively diminished during the intestinal phase, leading to comparable final lipolysis levels. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive comparison of commercial fat spreads and improves the understanding of how lipid origin and formulation influence their physicochemical, nutritional and digestive properties.