Effects of chemical interesterification on the physicochemical properties of palm stearin, palm kernel oil and soybean oil blends

Palm stearin (PS), palm kernel oil (PKO) and soybean oil (SBO) blends were formulated according to Design Expert 8.0.4 (2010). All the sixteen oil blends were subjected to chemical interesterification (CIE) using sodium methoxide as the catalyst. The effects of chemical interesterification on the slip melting point (SMP), solid fat content (SFC), triacylglycerol (TAG) composition and polymorphism were investigated. Palm based trans-free table margarine containing PS/PKO/SBO [49/20/31, (w/w)], was optimally formulated through analysis of multiple ternary phase diagrams and was found to have quite similar SMP and SFC profiles as compared with commercial table margarine. This study has shown that blending and chemical interesterification are effective in modifying the physicochemical properties of palm stearin, palm kernel oil, soybean oil and their blends