Structural characteristics of crystals formed in palm oil using sorbitan tristearate and sucrose stearate

• Main Authors: Maria Aliciane Fontenele Domingues, Thais Lomonaco Teodoro Da Silva, Ana Paula Badan Ribeiro, Ming Chih Chiu, Lireny Aparecida Guaraldo Gonçalves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Food Properties
• Subjects: Co-crystallization; Crystallization mechanism; Food emulsifier; Palm oil; Seeding
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2018.1440237

The formation and stabilization of fat crystals in palm oil (PO) by the templating effects of sorbitan tristearate (STS) and sucrose stearate (S-370) were examined. We observed that the crystallization mechanism occurred via heterogeneous nucleation, which was induced by co-crystallization or seeding, after the addition of STS or S-370, respectively. Overall, both emulsifiers, STS and S-370, caused an increase in the hardness of PO, which was related to changes in the microstructure. In addition, the intensity of this effect was shown to be dependent on the emulsifiers concentration. In differential scanning calorimetry analysis, S-370 proved to be associated predominantly to the crystallization of high-melting triacylglycerols (TAGs), while STS showed to actuate the crystallization of high and low-melting TAGs. Moreover, the addition of STS improved the polymorphic stability of the PO, while the use of S-370 resulted in a soft texture at lower temperatures.