Enzymatic interesterification of palm and coconut stearin blends.

Hard fractions of palm oil and coconut oil, blended in the ratios of 90:10, 85:15, 80:20 and 75:25, were
interesterified for 8 h using Lipozyme TL IM. Major fatty acids in the blends were palmitic acid (41.7–
48.4%) and oleic acid (26.2–30.8%). Medium-chain fatty acids accounted for 4.5–13.1% of the blends. After
interesterification (IE), slip melting point was found to decrease from 44.8–46.8 �C to 28.5–34.0 �C owing to
reduction in solids content at all temperatures. At 37.5 �C, the blends containing 25% coconut stearins had
17.4–19% solids, which reduced to 0.4–1.5% on IE, and the slip melting point (28.6 and 28.8 �C) indicated
their suitability as margarine base. The reduction in solid fat index of the interesterified fats is attributed to
the decrease in high-melting triacylglycerols in palm oil (GS3 and GS2U type) and increase in triolein (GU3)
content from 1 to 9.2%. Retention of tocopherols and b-carotene during IE was 76 and 60.1%, respectively,
in 75:25 palm stearin and coconut stearin blend.