An investigation on the physicochemical characterization of interesterified blends of fully hydrogenated palm olein and soybean oil.

In this study, the effect of interesterification (using sodium methoxide) on physicochemical characteristics of fully hydrogenated palm olein (FHPO)/soybean oil blends (10 ratios) was investigated. Interesterification changed free fatty acid content, decreased oil stability index, solid fat content (SFC) and slip melting point (SMP), and does not affected the peroxide value. With the increase of FHPO ratio, oil stability index, SFC and SMP increased in both the interesterified and non-interesterified blends. Fats with higher FHPO ratio had narrower plastic range, as well. Compared to the initial blends, interesterified fats had wider plastic ranges at lower temperatures. Both the non-interesterified and interesterified blends showed monotectic behavior. The Gompertz function could describe SFC curve (as a function of temperature, saturated fatty acid (SFA) content or both) and SMP (as a function of SFA) of the interesterified fats with high R2 and low mean absolute error.