ARS | Publication request: PRODUCTION OF COCOA BUTTER-LIKE FATS BY THE LIPASE-CATALYZED INTERESTERIFICATION OF PALM OIL AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: September 8, 2003
Publication Date: November 1, 2003
Citation: Abigor, R.D., Marmer, W.N., Foglia, T.A., Jones, K.C., Ashby, R.D., Uadia, P.O. 2003. Production of cocoa butter-like fats by the lipase-catalyzed interesterification of palm oil and hydrogenated soybean oil. Journal of the Americal Oil Chemists' Society. 80:1193-1196.

Interpretive Summary: Cocoa butter is the fat of choice in the confectionery industry. The relatively high cost and limited availability of cocoa butter, however, has prompted much interest in finding alternative fats that can be used as cocoa butter replacements or extenders in chocolate and confectionery applications. This is especially true in some developing countries, such as Nigeria, since most specialty-fat products such as cocoa butter are imported, which exacerbates the trade deficit and economic growth of that country. One way of addressing this problem is to use underutilized indigenous oil seed crops as a source of needed confectionery fats. The purpose of this study therefore was to produce cocoa butter substitutes from palm oil, which is the largest oil seed crop produced in Nigeria. The cocoa butter-like fats were produced by treating a blend of palm oil and hydrogenated soybean oil with enzymes, a much more highly selective route than the conventional chemical alternative. Application of this technology will allow developing countries to produce less costly replacement confectionery fats from indigenous palm oil.

Technical Abstract: Cocoa butter-like fats were prepared from refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBD-PO) and fully hydrogenated soy oil (HSO) by enzymatic interesterification at various weight ratios of substrates. The cocoa butter-like fats were isolated from the crude interesterification mixture by fractional crystallization from acetone. Analysis of these fat products by reversed-phase HPLC in combination with evaporative light scattering or mass spectrometric detection showed that their triacylglycerol distributions were similar to that of cocoa butter, but that they also contained mono and diacylglycerols, which were removed by silica chromatography. The optimum weight ratio of RBD-PO to HSO found to produce a fat product containing the major triacylglycerol component of cocoa butter, namely 1(3)-palmitoyl-3(1)-stearoyl-2-monoolein (POS), was 1.6:1. The melting profile of this purified product as determined by differential scanning calorimetry was comparable to the melting profile of cocoa butter, and its yield was 45% based on the weight of the original substrates.