Melting and solidification properties of palm kernel oil, tallow, and palm olein blends in the preparation of shortening

Ternary systems composed of palm kernel oil (PKO), tallow, and palm olein (POo) were studied in terms of their physical properties such as solid fat content (SFC), melting characteristics by DSC and polymorphism by X-ray diffraction. Ternary phase behavior was analyzed with isosolid diagrams. The results showed that as the POo content of the blends was increased the SFC value decreased, while the increase of tallow content increased the SFC value. Eutectic effects within the ternary system were confirmed from the deviation of the measured SFC from the calculated SFC for corresponding thermodynamically ideal blends. The deviation reached a maximum when the amounts of PKO and POo are both about 45%. X-ray diffraction results showed that addition of PKO into the blends promoted stabilization in the beta ' crystalline form.