FI68754C - FOERFARANDE FOER FRAMSTAELLNING AV EN NAERINGSFETTPRODUKT INNEHAOLLANDE KNAPPT AV TRANS-ISOMERER - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a dietary fat product with a low trans-isomer content of less than about 1%. , and in particular for the preparation of a edible fat product suitable for the production of soft margarines.

Table margarines are generally prepared by emulsifying mixtures of liquid unsaturated vegetable oils and hydrogenated hardener under different conditions depending on the desired viscosity of the product. The margarine product must have certain flow properties, but free oil must not be separated from it and it must nevertheless be rapidly digestible in the tongue. The hydrogenation required to produce a hardener having such properties also leaves unsaturation in the form of trans-isomeric forms of mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids. Such trans-isomeric forms of fatty acids in the diet are currently the subject of scientific debate and ongoing research; to identify their potential effects on food health.

The hardener prepared according to the invention reduces this problem and is at the same time suitable for the formation of edible fat products which can be used for the preparation of mainly trans-isomer-free margarines. The invention, broadly speaking, provides a process for the preparation of a hardener 30 suitable for the production of a low transisomeric fat product comprising a randomly exchanged mixture of a saturated babassu oil having an iodine value of less than 2.0 and another saturated edible oil having an iodine value of less than 2.0. such that the mixture contains said saturated babassu oil and said saturated second oil in a weight ratio of 60:40 to about 40:60, and such that the transesterified mixture produces a hardener having an SFI solids content of at least 45% at 33 ° C (determined by SOC method 2 68754 of AOCS). The resulting hardener is mixed with a liquid vegetable oil to produce a low trans isomeric fat product, more preferably in such proportions that the resulting mixture contains about 5-20% by weight of a 5 to 5 percent hardener.

Since it is commercially impossible to produce a product in which there is absolutely no quantifiable amount of trans isomer, the invention provides products in which the trans isomer content has been substantially removed. The protected products have been prepared using appropriate control methods to ensure that the trans isomer content is less than 1%. The term "low trans isomer content" is thus defined accordingly. The trans isomer content was determined by infrared spectrophotometry using the official method of the American Oil Chemist Association (AOCS), designated Cd-14-61.

The term "fat" is used herein to mean all edible fatty acid glycerides, regardless of their origin or whether they are solid or liquid at room temperature. Thus, the term "fat" usually includes liquid and usually solid vegetable and animal fats and oils. When the term "oil" is used in this invention, reference is made to those fats which are normally liquid in their unchanged state.

The hardener prepared in accordance with the invention is a randomly transesterified mixture of saturated babassu oil and another saturated oil in a weight ratio of about 75:25 to about 40:60, more preferably about 60:40 to about 40:60. These oils should be saturated and the iodine numbers should be less than 2.0. Suitable saturated fats are obtained by hydrogenation of suitable fats either as mixtures or separately or by fractionation. The transesterification is performed at elevated temperature and under vacuum in the presence of a suitable catalyst to give a product having a solids content of at least 35 about 45% at 33 ° C (determined by the SFI method of AOCS) and a recommended Wiley melting point of about 44-49 ° C. The solids content of 338754 at 33 ° C is preferably not less than 50% and the Wiley melting point should be in the range of 46-48 ° C. The completion of the transesterification reaction is usually determined by a decrease in the melting point of the product by 12 ° C compared to the melting point of the mixture before transesterification.

It is also possible to prepare the hardener by first exchanging certain oils and then hydrogenating to the required degree of saturation. However, the latter method is inferior because the exact determination of the end of transesterification is more difficult than if the transesterification has been carried out after the substances have been saturated.

Essential to the process according to the invention is the use of babas nut oil as starting material, i.e. the oil obtained from the babass nut Attalea funifera. By using this material 15, a hardener is obtained which makes it possible to produce margarines of varying composition but with acceptable properties, while at the same time allowing the use of conventional handling, packaging and equipment.

It is also essential for the process according to the invention that a second saturated edible oil having an iodine value of less than 2.0 and a melting point of preferably about 55-60 ° C is used as starting material. This second oil is transesterified with saturated babassu oil to give a hardener with no residues of trans-unsaturation. According to the Kek-25 invention, suitable animal and vegetable fats are used which are saturated to have an iodine value of less than 2.0 and which have a recommended melting point of about 55-60 ° C.

These materials have desirable ranges of physical properties and do not have trans-unsaturated myths. Suitable fats include those animal and vegetable fats that have these properties after saturation, but have iodine numbers in their natural state prior to hydrogenation of less than about 60, more preferably less than about 50.

Mixtures or fractions of vegetable fats such as palm oil, coconut oil, and mixtures or fractions of animal fats such as tallow may be used if they meet the criteria of 4 68754 above. According to the invention, the preferred vegetable fat is palm oil and the preferred animal fat is house.

The low trans isomer fat required by the present invention cannot be prepared if the second edible oil contains unsaturated oil such as rapeseed-5 (canola oil), cottonseed oil, soybean oil or highly unsaturated fractions of these and other fats. When such fats are used and hydrogenation is continued to a point that reaches the required melting point range of 55-60 ° C, significantly greater than 1% trans-isomer-10 concentrations remain. And when hydrogenation is performed, to achieve saturation and a correspondingly higher melting point, the transesterification product is incapable of producing edible fat products with the recommended SFI values.

Margarines on the market are usually sold in two basic types, namely either molded, hard or bar margarines or soft or box margarines. The hardness of hard margarine should be in the permeability range of 65-120 when the unit is 0.1 mm and when using an ASTM fat cone at 7 ° C. The softness of soft margarine, or box marin-20 garin, should be in the permeability range of 130-210 when the unit is 0.1 mm and when using an ASTM fat cone at 7 ° C. Smaller amounts of margarine are sold in such a soft form that it is flowable and can be used at least by squeezing from a flexible container. The present invention is directed to the production of edible fats suitable for use in box margarine or liquid margarine. It is therefore an object of the invention that the prepared fat products can be used in the preparation of low calorie margarine (dietary margarine), industrial baking margarines, blends containing dairy products, and spreads containing less than 80% fat.

5 68754

The required SFI solids values for edible fats used to make box margarines are a minimum solids content of 9% at 10 ° C, a minimum solids content of 5% at 21 ° C and a maximum solids content of 4% at 33 ° C. Most preferably, the maximum solids content at 10 ° C is up to 12%, at 21 ° C up to 7% and at 33 ° C up to 3%. Most preferably, the maximum solids content at 33 ° C is about 2%. Margarine made from the edible fats of the definition is easily spread at room temperature without significant oil separation and yet melts well in the mouth at about 36 ° C. Such products may be prepared according to the present invention from a edible fat product which is a mixture of unsaturated vegetable oils and a hardener containing about 5-20% by weight of hardener, most preferably 14-20% by weight and most preferably more than 15%, typically about 16-19% by weight .

For compressible, flowable spreads with a minimum hardener content of 5% by weight, the SFI solids values should be close to the lower limits of the above solids ranges and preferably just below them, for example having a minimum solids content of 2% at 10 ° C and a minimum solids-20 content. 1% at 21 ° C and a maximum solids content of 1% at 33 ° C. Most preferably, the maximum solids content at 10 ° C is 5% and at 21 ° C 3%.

It has previously been proposed in U.S. Patent 3,617,308 to use randomly esterified products made from mixtures of fully hardened palm oil and fully hardened vegetable oils such as palm, rapeseed (canola oil), cottonseed or soybean oil for the manufacture of margarines. Mixtures of the resulting hardener and liquid vegetable oil contain 8-15% by weight, more preferably 8-12% by weight of hardener. One key starting material in this patent is palm kernel oil, i.e., the oil of the kernel fruit Elaeis quineensis kernel, a very different starting material from the babassu-kina oil used in this invention. This patent does not relate to the production of a low trans isomeric fat, nor, in fact, to the various co-drawn vegetable oils that can be used in the preparation of 6,68,754 products without trans unsaturation. Soybean oil, canola oil (Canola oil) and cottonseed oil, when cured to only 55 ° C, the lower limit of the melting point range disclosed in the patent, contain detectable concentrations of trans isomers.

Since edible fat products can be prepared with up to 95% by weight of liquid vegetable oils, a high degree of polyunsaturation of 10 can be achieved in both liquid margarines and fat margarines according to the invention. In general, according to the invention, higher degrees of polyunsaturation can be achieved in margarine than in conventionally prepared margarines, and in addition, at the same time, the product does not contain trans-unsaturated isomers.

A wide variety of edible liquid vegetable oils can be used in the preparation of edible fat products from alternatively sharpened hardener, for example safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, flaxseed, canola (canola oil), peanut, cottonseed, wheat germ. The most suitable vegetable oils have a polyunsaturation to saturation ratio (P / S) greater than 2: 1.

The fat blends prepared in accordance with this invention can be emulsified to form margarines in a conventional manner as well as to form blends and spreads. Typically, the edible fat product is emulsified with the aqueous phase at an elevated temperature where the fat product is a liquid and then rapidly cooled. This treatment can be carried out using a conventional device comprising one or more scraper tube-30 surface chip exchangers, for example "Votator" equipment, if the emulsion is mixed with water-in-oil emulsions of suitable solidity for application. The subcooled emulsion is filled into suitable containers.

If necessary, this initial, liquid fat-35 mixture can be crystallized either before or after emulsification or before the final cooling step, and further crystallization can be performed in, for example, a rest or mixing unit such as a Votator B unit or a kneading unit before fill the containers. In addition, the mouldable emulsion can be mechanically mixed between the rest or mixing units and the filling or molding equipment.

The invention is illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1 This example illustrates the preparation of a low trans-isomer hardener for use in edible fat products from babassu oil and palm oil.

Babass nut oil was hydrogenated at 149 ° C using a 0.2% oil-based suspension of nickel catalyst (26% Ni) to an iodine value of less than 2.0 to give a saturated product with a melting point of 45 °. Palm oil was similarly hydrogenated using a nickel catalyst to an iodine value of less than 2.0 to obtain a saturated product with a melting point of 60 ° C. The hydrogenated materials were filtered to remove nickel.

The resulting babassu oil and saturated palm oil were mixed in a weight ratio of 50:50 and steam distilled to give a free fatty acid content of less than about 0.03% by weight. The mixture was heated to 121 ° C under vacuum at 2-3 mmHg in the presence of 0.05% sodium methoxide catalyst with stirring for 15 minutes. A sample of the product was analyzed to confirm the end of transesterification as determined by a 12 ° C decrease in melting point compared to the melting point of the mixture prior to transesterification.

The temperature was then lowered to 82 ° C and 0.4% by weight of a 30% aqueous solution of magnesium sulfate in hot water was added to remove residual catalyst. The temperature was then raised to 99 ° C and 1% bleach was added to whiten the product. The transesterified product was then cooled and filtered.

The SFI solids value of the hardener produced was found to be 54.4% at 33 ° C and a Wiley melting point of 47.5 ° C.

In addition, the hardener product was not found to contain trans-isomeric forms as determined by infrared spectrophotometry.

5

Example 2 This example shows the mixing of the hardener of Example I with liquid vegetable oil and the preparation of a box margarine containing low levels of trans isomers.

The hardener prepared according to Example I was mixed with sunflower oil to form a mixture containing 16% by weight of hardener. The resulting mixture had an unsaturation to saturation ratio of 2.2: 1 (57% polyunsaturation and 24% saturation based on total fat weight), and the mixture had the following SFI solids: 9.4% at 10 ° C 20, 2% at 21 ° C 2.0% at 33 ° C

The mixture was combined with the aqueous phase at about 20% by weight and treated with conventional "Votator" A 25 units and blend B units to obtain a water-in-oil emulsion which is further fed to conventional packaging equipment to produce box margarine. The margarine produced was easily spreadable, did not separate oil during or after treatment at room temperature, and was highly melt-in-the-mouth. The permeability of the margarine was 160 when the unit was 0.1 mm and when an ASTM fat cone was used at 7 ° C.

Example 3 35 This example illustrates the preparation of a hardener containing little trans isomers in the same manner as 9 68754

in Example 1, but in weight ratios of 55% saturated babas nut oil and 45% saturated tallow, the hardener is transesterified immediately after mixing. The SFI solids value of the prepared hardener product was found to be 45.7% at 33 ° C and the Wiley melting point at 47 ° C.

In summary, the present invention provides a low trans trans isomeric edible fat product that can be used to produce both box margarine and flowable margarines.

Claims (6)

68754 A process for preparing a low trans-isomeric edible fat product having a trans-isomer content of not more than about 1%, characterized in that a randomly transesterified mixture is prepared from a saturated babassu oil having an iodine value of less than 2.0, and a second a saturated edible oil having an iodine value of less than 2.0, wherein the mixture comprises 10 said babassu oil and said second oil in a weight ratio of about 75:25 to 40:60, and wherein the transesterified mixture forms a hardener having an SFI solids content of at least about 45% 33 ° In C, and mixing said hardener product with liquid vegetable oil in such a proportion that the resulting mixture contains about 5-20% by weight of said hardener. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said second saturated edible oil has a melting point of 55-60 ° C. Process according to one of Claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the hardener has a Wiley melting point of approximately 44 to 49 ° C. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said hardener and said liquid vegetable oil are mixed in such proportions that the resulting mixture has an SFI solids content of at least 9% at 10 ° C, at least 5% at 21 ° C and not more than 3% at 33 ° C. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said second oil is an animal or vegetable fat having an iodine value before impregnation of less than about 60 and preferably less than 50 and which is preferably palm oil, coconut oil, tallow or a combination thereof. . Process according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the hardener has an SFI solids content of at least about 50% at 33 ° C.