Improving Plasticity of Milk Fat for Use in Baking by Fractionation

Milk fat is soft with a low solids content at all
temperatures up to 37 �C, which makes its usage limited.
To extend its usage, the fat was fractionated to obtain
stearin (St) with a 50–55% yield by dry fractionation. The
stearin was found to contain an increased solids content at
all temperatures and to have improved plasticity compared
to its native fat. The physical properties of St were found to
be similar to those of commercial bakery shortenings or
vanaspati. The melting profiles and the solidification
properties of milk fat St are similar to those of commercial
bakery shortening. Also, St does not require extended stabilization
or tempering, as it transferred to the most stable
form quickly like commercial bakery fat. Milk fat St
showed higher proportions of saturated fatty acids including
those with short chains, compared to commercial vanaspati,
the later having a high trans fatty acid content (15%). The
olein obtained could also be used as a cooking medium or as
a salad oil since it contains a lower solids content at ambient
temperatures compared to its parent milk fat.