PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND COMPOSITION OF LOW TRANS CANOLA/PALM BLENDS PARTIALLY MODIFIED BY CHEMICAL INTERESTERIFICATION

ABSTRACT. Three partially interesterified low‐trans fat blends aimed for soft margarines were formulated. They contained palm stearin (PS), hydrogenated canola oil (HCO) iodine value (I. V. = 66.5) and canola oil (CO). The PS and HCO were co‐randomized and CO was then added to complete the blends. The composition of the blends in terms of percentages of PS, HCO and CO were 10/30/60, 10/20/70 and 20/30/50. Their dropping point (DP) ranged between 30.5 to 35.2C. Solid fat contents (SFC) were in the range of 11.0–21.1%, 5.0–13.3% and 0.8–2.0% at 10, 20 and 35C, respectively. Crystallization temperatures were between 11.4 and 16.0C. All three blends crystallized in the ß’polymorphic form. Their trans fatty acid contents were 8.7–12.1% and the total trans and saturated fatty acid contents were 23.7–33.3%.