Food Lipids: Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biotechnology

mercial lauric fats based on both PKO and coconut oil. The results of these experimental
evaluations revealed some significant differences between the laurate canola
coatings and those made using palm kernel oil- or coconut oil-based fat systems,
including:
Significant increased flavor impact with laurate canola
Increased coating shelf life (decreased bloom) when laurate canola was used
Preferred mouthfeel over standard laurics
There were some negative findings also, including:
Decreased shrinkage on cooling (problems with demolding)
Less snap (coating not as hard as comparable controls)
Less gloss (reflectance of surface crystals below that of controls, indicating that
crystal size was an issue)
All these negative issues are being addressed through a combination of formulation
techniques and procedures, and through variations in the structural makeup of the
laurate canola itself. We believe that this fine-tuning process will be an integral part
of any applications development effort for any of the structured triglycerides developed
using this technology.
One of the most significant differences we found for the laurate canola versus
the typical laurics used in confectionery coatings was the high degree of compatibility
between laurate canola and cocoa butter. Typical lauric fats have limited compatibility
with cocoa butter and tend to produce eutectic effects in admixtures that
create softer fats than either of the two base fats alone. This result is primarily due
to the interference of the crystallization path of the lauric fat on the crystallization
dynamics of the cocoa butter. The addition of only a few percent of cocoa butter
into a typical lauric fat will result in this softening effect, causing the resulting fat
blend to be unsuitable for use in coating applications. With laurate canola, however,
such negative interactions with cocoa butter did not occur until significant levels of
cocoa butter (about 40% on an oil basis) were admixed. This means that sources of
‘‘chocolate’’ flavor, typically those high in cocoa butter, can now be used to impart
more of the desired flavor to the finished goods when laurate canola is used as the
base fat for the coating. The actual mechanism of this cocrystallization effect has
not been determined, but the functional effects of such blends, as interpreted through
SFI curves of the laurate canola–cocoa butter systems, is clear
Again, finding advantages such as these and relating them to the composition
and structure of the base oil and then using breeding and selection to ‘‘grow’’ the
optimal oil will be ongoing efforts. However, once a baseline of information has
been developed that relates structure to function, a predictive capability should be
established that will significantly shorten the turnaround time required for new product
development.
VI. PROSPECTS AND SUMMARY
We have seen that genetic engineering of dramatically new vegetable oil compositions
is feasible, through a complex and protracted process leading to an economically
viable transgenic crop that is then optimized by a continuing phase of improvements
to that new crop variety. The fatty acid composition of vegetable oils is plastic;
Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.