Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 30 (4) December 2018, p. 617-634

QUALITY SOFT TABLE MARGARINE WITH MINIMAL POST-CRYSTALLISATION THROUGH HIGH PRESSURE PIN-ROTOR UNIT

MISKANDAR MAT SAHRI*; ZALIHA OMAR*; NOOR LIDA HABI MAT DIAN*; RAFIDAH ABD HAMID*; SIVARUBY KANAGARATNAM* and ROSNANI OSMAN*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2018.0052
Published Online: 17 December 2018
ABSTRACT

Post-crystallisation is a hardening phenomenon in margarine and shortening after production. The choice of oils and fats, diacylglycerol (DAG) content and processing are several ways identified that could overcome post-crystallisation problem. There have been studies to understand this phenomenon, through the effects of emulsion temperatures, throughput speed, tube-cooler temperatures and pin-worker speed. Post-crystallisation in non-hydrogenated margarine during storage is significantly related to processing. Thus, minimising the post-hardening problem in palm-based soft margarine by studying the performance of high pressure working unit of margarine pilot plant will be the objective of the current work. A formulation containing palm oil as the major oil and a soft oil with a balanced ratio of 1:1:1 in saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids was processed in a margarine pilot plant. For evaluating the effects of high pressure coupled with pin-rotor, a high-speed pin-rotor and a double stage homogeniser were installed. The oils and fats and the finished products were analysed for their fatty acid composition, solid fat content, texture and hardness value upon storage. Post-crystallisation was greatly minimised in the soft margarine with the maximum usage of non-hydrogenated palm oil formulation at controlled storage temperatures of 5°C, 10°C, 15°C and 20°C.

KEYWORDS:


* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: miskand@mpob.gov.my