Chemical and physical properties of the solid fats in commercial soft margarines

The fats of ten Canadian soft margarines were crystallized from acetone at 15°C to obtain the high‐melting glycerides (HMG). The solid fats in the margarines were extracted with isboutanol at 5°C. X‐ray diffraction showed that the canola margarines were in the β crystal form, the soybean and sunflower‐palm‐palm kernel margarines in the β′ form, while those of canola‐palm and another sunflower‐palm‐palm kernel margarines contained a mixture of β′ and β forms. X‐ray diffraction of the isolated solids showed additional short spacings compared with those of the original margarines. Differential scanning calorimetry heating curves of the solids were compared with those of the HMG. The melting temperatures of the HMG were 10°C higher than the solids. It is suggested that the polymorphic behavior of soft margarines is related to the chemical composition of the HMG and the solids. Solids in margarines can also be provided by interesterification of palm oil products.