The properties of the mixture of beef tallow and rapeseed oil with a high content of tallow after chemical and enzymatic interesterification

A mixture of beef tallow with rapeseed oil (3:1 wt/wt) was interesterified using sodium metoxide or immobilized lipases from Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme IM) and Candida antarctica (Novozym 435) as catalysts. Chemical interesterifications were carried out at 60 and 90 degrees C for 0.5 and 1.5 h using 0.4, 0.6 and 1.0 wt-% CH3ONa. Depending on the catalyst used enzymatic interesterifications were carried out at 60 degrees C for 8 h (Lipozyme IM) or at 80 degrees C for 4 h (Novozym 435). The catalysts doses were kept constant (8%) but the water content in catalysts varied from 2 to 10 %. The starting mixture and the interesterified products were separated by column chromatography into a pure triacylglycerol fraction and a non-triacylglycerol fraction, which contained free fatty acids, mono- and diacylglycerols. It was found that the concentrations of free fatty acids and partial acylglycerols increased after interesterification. The slip melting points and solid fat contents of the triacylglycerol fractions isolated from interesterified fats were lower when compared with nonesterified blends. The sn-2 and sn-1,3 distributions of fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fractions before and after interesterification were determined. These distributions were random after chemical interesterification and near random when Novozym 435 was used. When Lipozyme IM was used, the fatty acid composition at the sn-2 position remained practically unchanged compared with the starting blend. The interesterified fats and isolated triacylglycerols had reduced oxidative stability, as assessed by Rancimat induction times. The addition of 0.02% of BHA or BHT to the interesterified fats improved their stabilities.