InfoSAWIT, MEULABOH – Students from the Agricultural Product Technology (THP) Study Program at Teuku Umar University (UTU) have successfully developed bigels based on palm oil as a healthier alternative to solid fat in food products, especially in bakery items. This innovation is part of the 2025 Exact Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-RE) organized by the Directorate of Learning and Student Affairs (Belmawa) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek).

The research team leader, Ummu Cahyati, explained that the research idea stemmed from the public's increasing awareness of the importance of healthy eating, particularly regarding low-fat bakery consumption.

"Currently, many bakery products use butter, which is high in saturated fat, or margarine, which contains trans fats. Through this research, we want to present a healthier, plant-based fat alternative, leveraging the great potential of Indonesian palm oil," said Ummu, as reported by InfoSAWIT from UTU on Friday (17/10/2025).

The development of bigels aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by reducing saturated and trans fat consumption, and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by creating a more economical solid fat product for the bakery industry.

Bigels are a colloidal system combining an oleogel and a hydrogel, resulting in a texture similar to solid fat but with a healthier fatty acid profile. In this study, palm oil was combined with hydrogel polymers like carrageenan, CMC, and sodium alginate. The best palm oil bigels formula was tested on cookies, involving physical, chemical, microstructure, and sensory tests to assess quality and consumer acceptance. (T2)