Melting characteristic and solid fat content of milk fat and palm stearin blends before and after enzymatic interesterification

Melting characteristics and solid fat content of anhydrous milkfat (AMF), soft palm oil stearin (SPOs), hard palm oil stearin (HPOs) and their blends were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, respectively. Solid fat contents (SFC) determined by NMR were used to construct isosolid diagrams; these indicated the presence of an eutectic effect along the binary blends of AMF:SPOs which only could be observed at 5 and 10C. The effect was reduced after interesterification by sn-1,3-specific lipase. The modification also reduced the number of the distinct DSC melting peaks, demonstrating a better miscibility among the blended fats. A substantial decrease in DSC melting enthalpy of interesterified blends was found to be parallel to a decrease in SFC that was observed at 25-40C. Fatty acid composition showed that improved functionality of AMF may be due to an enrichment in long-chain saturated fatty acids contributed both by SPOs and HPOs.