Physical characteristics of modified milkfat in high-melting fat preparation

Anhydrous milkfat (AMF) was fractionated to obtain a series of high-melting milkfat fractions (HMF). Solid fat content (SFC) of HMF as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was in the range 37.6-43.6% and 21.2-27.5% measured at 20 and 30 degrees C, respectively. The HMF have a higher melting characteristic compared to AMF as analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with melting enthalpies of 92.2-105.0 J/g and melting peak temperatures of 39.3-41.5 degrees C. The AMF was also blended with soft palm stearin (SPOs and/or hard palm stearin (HPOs)) according to a three conventional component mixture design which providing suitable formulations for HMF. This represented three selected blends of AMF:SPOs:HPOs at three different proportions (70:15:15, 60:30:10 and 50:45:5), having SFC and DSC melting characteristics of HMF. The study revealed that higher-melting characteristics of AMF could be achieved equally well by using both fractionation and blending techniques.