Production of Trans Fat Free Shortening Using Palm Oil Fractions as Raw Materials

Abstract

The use of animal fats as raw material for shortening production has been avoided because of low supply, and religious restriction of certain beliefs. The use of hydrogenated vegetable oils is also avoided because it contains trans fat content that may induce cardiovascular diseases. Palm oil is theoretically potential to be used as raw material for shortening manufacturing because due to its triacylglycerols composition, palm oil can be easily modified to achieve desirable plasticity. The oils are relatively inexpensive, and available in abundance throughout the year in Indonesia. In addition, palm oil contains minor components such as tocopherol, tocotrienol (both are considered as vitamin E) and beta-carotene (provitamin A). In this study, shortening formulation using palm oil raw material are determined based on evaluation on chemical and physical properties of commercial shortening as a target. The results showed that the mixture of palm oil – corn oil can be used to substitute commercial shortening made from hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, and the mixture of palm oil – palm kernel oil can be used for substitution of shortening made of animal fat. The products that not contain trans fat, showed comparable physical and chemical properties to the commercial ones.