Synthesis of Cocoa Butter Equivalent from Formulated Hard Palm Oil Mid-Fraction and Canola Oil Blends

Abstract

Cocoa butter (CB) is an important major constituent of chocolate and other confectionary products. Several factors such as premium price, uncertainty in supply and variability in quality, have led the search for an alternative such as cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) from available and cheap commercial oils or fats. The aim of this research was to produce CBEs which contain omega-3 and omega-6 by blending hard palm oil mid-fraction (PMF) with canola oil. The reaction was performed by using Lipozyme RM IM as the biocatalyst. It aims to retain omega-3 and omega-6 content in CBE after interesterification. The effect of lipase load (LL), time reaction (TR) and stearic acid (ST) on CBE properties were studied to produce nearly similar CBE properties to CB. The best reaction conditions for maximizing POS (palmitic-oleic-stearic), SOS (stearic-oleic-stearic), and SMP (slip melting point) value while minimizing POP (palmitic-oleic-palmitic) and the levels of diacylglycerol (DAG) formation were; LL, 7.5% (w/w); TR, 8 hours; ST, with 44% stearic acid addition. Omega-3 (5.35%) and omega-6 (1.97%) content in CBE (after interesterification) were not significantly different (p > 0.05) to omega-3 (5.71%) and omega-6 (2.16%) content in initial mixture (before interesterification). The properties of CBE which include POP, POS, SOS, DAG and SMP values were 30.33%, 17.53%, 3.26%, 6.75%, and 46.45°C, respectively under these conditions.