660 14 Edible Fats and Oils
The application of the fractional extraction of fat
or oil, instead of crystallization, has been outlined
under 14.4.1.3.
14.4.5 Margarine – Manufacturing
and Properties
The inventor of margarine,Mège Mouries,de-
scribed in his patent issued in 1869 a process
for the production of spreadable fat from beef fat
which would substitute for and imitate the scarce
and costly dairy butter. Based on the assumption
that margaric acid (17:0) is the predominant fatty
acid of beef fat, the name “margarine” was sug-
gested for the new product. The assumption was,
however, proven to be incorrect (cf. Table 14.3).
Nevertheless, the name remained.
Margarine, which is produced worldwide in
amounts exceeding 7 million t/a, is a water in oil
emulsion. Its stability is achieved by an increase
in viscosity of the continuous fat phase due to par-
tial crystallization and through emulsifiers. The
fat crystals form a three dimensional network.
They should be present in theβ′-modification;
aconversionβ′→βis undesirable because the
β-modification causes a “sandy” texture defect.
Hydrogenated fats, which are frequently used as
Table 14.19.Examples of margarine types
Type Comments
A. Household margarine
Standard product At least 50% of the fat is vegetable oil, the rest being animal fat.
Vegetable margarine At least 98% of the fat is vegetable oil; contains at least 15% linoleic acid.
Linoleic acid enriched At least 30% linoleic acid, otherwise as vegetable margarine.
margarine
B. Semi-fat margarine The fat content is halved. This type is not suitable for baking and frying.
C. Molten or fused margarine Practically free of water and protein. It is aromatized with diacetyl and
butyric acid; soft consistency; with large TG crystals it has a grainy
structure; applied in cooking, frying and baking.
D. Special types for
industrial processing
Baking margarine Strongly aromatized with heat stable compounds that contribute to baked
products’ aroma; mainly moderately melting TG’s.
Margarine for pastry This margarine is strongly aromatized; its high melting TG’s are embedded
production in oil phase; suitable for dough extension into thin sheets (“strudel dough”)
used in flaky pastry production.
Creamy margarine It is not or only slightly aromatized; has a soft consistency; contains
high content of coconut oil and approx. 10 vol-% of air.raw materials, crystallize in theβ′-modification
when the lengths of the acyl residues differ.
The erucic acid-rich and partially hydrogenated
rapeseed fat used in the past crystallizes in the
β′-form. The cultivation of rapeseed with a low
content of erucic acid at first produced a fat
that, after partial hydrogenation, consisted to
almost 90% of 18:0 and 18:1 and, as a result of
this homogeneity, crystallized in theβ-form. By
means of cultivation, 16:0 was increased from 5
to 12% at the cost of 18:1, which is sufficient for
the stabilization of theβ
′
-form.14.4.5.1 CompositionThe properties of margarine, such as nutritional
value, spreadability, plasticity, shelf life and melt-
ing properties, resemble those of butter and are
influenced essentially by the varieties and prop-
erties of the main fat ingredients. Since choice of
ingredients is large, numerous varieties of mar-
garine are produced (cf. Table 14.19).
The fat in margarine, which by regulation is
80% by weight (diet margarine is 39–41% fat),
contains about 18% of emulsified water. The
W/O emulsion is stabilized by a mixture of
mono- and diacylglycerols (approx. 0.5%) and