Enzymatic inter-esterification of binary blends containing Irvingia gabonensis seed fat to produce cocoa butter substitute

Abstract

In order to investigate Irvingia gabonensis seed fat (IGF) as a potential cocoa butter alternative (CBA), its melting behavior was first compared to that of cocoa butter (CB). It was then modified by blending 90% of this fat with 10% of a liquid oil either rapeseed oil (RO) or groundnut oil (GO) or palm super olein (PSO) or Dacryodes edulis pulp oil (DPO). Those blends were then enzymatically interesterified in order to improve their melting profiles. The binary blend that showed a similar profile with CB and palm kernel stearin (PKS) was chosen as the best potential new speciality fat. Compatibility between the new speciality fat and CB was evaluated by constructing phase diagrams from NMR and XRD data. The interesterified blends with 90% of IGF and 10% of DPO was chosen as the new speciality fat because its profiles was close to that of CB and showed similar characterics to PKS. The results indicated that the specialty fat produced from IGF and DPO could be used as CBS in confectionery industries (alone or mixed in low proportion with CB).

Practical applications: Fractionnated and/or hydrogenated lauric fats are frequently used by confectionery industries to substitute CB. Results from this study demonstrated that an interesterified blend made of 90% IGF and 10% of DPO can be used also as CBS. The use of these two tropical oils (Irvingia gabonensis seeds fat and Dacryodes edulis pulp oil) as new sources of CBS constitutes a promizing way for their valorization at an industrial scale.

http://ift.tt/2DliqYM