Fatty Acid Compositions and Physical Characteristics of Recent Bakery Margarines

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The fatty acid compositions and physical characteristics of recently produced bakery margarines were determined for each of 5 brands of margarines for bread, cake, pie or pastry, chou puff and whipped cream. Melting points were measured by 4 methods using 2 types of automatic apparatus, and solid fat content (SFC), hardness index by cone-penetration, oil-off and creaming values were also determined. An attempt was made to determine if these parameters were correlated to fatty acid compositions.1) Long chain fatty acids having 20 or more carbons were detected in relatively high proportions from 14 brands, indicating the blending of hardened marine oil, but shorter chain acids with less than 12 carbons were not found in any of the brands examined, indicating no blending of laurin oils. Trans-isomers of unsaturated fatty acids, mainly t-18 : 1, were detected in all brands, at levels averaging 7.2% for t-18 : 1, 3.1% for t-20 : 1 and 1.6% for t-22 : 1, all below the levels expected. Fatty acid compositions indicated no characteristic features.2) From measurements of the above physical parameters, the margarines for pie or pastry were hardest, followed by those for chou puff, while those for whipped cream were the softest. Softer types tended to shed their oil-off more easily. However, the type for pie or pastry showed somewhat less SFC than that for chou puff at a temperature lower than 30°C.3) The hardness index was correlated with SFC for bakery margarines but neither of these values was correlated with the oil-off value. Also, SFC and the hardness index at 20°C were not correlated to the total % of unsaturated fatty acids except trans-isomers, and not correlated to a total % of polyunsaturated fatty acids (18 : 2+18 : 3). although these correlations have been considered to exist in the case of household margarines [J. Jpn. Oil Chem. Soc., Yukagaku, 36, 594 (1987)].