Yasuharu Nosho

A Novel High Pressure Technology for the Production of Margarine

In the processes of margarine production, crystallization of melted fats is one of the most important step for quality control. Usually, fine and stable crystal is suitable for assuring desired properties of margarine such as texture, spreadability, mouthfeel, breadmaking properties and so on. In conventional processes, cooling was the sole method for the crystallization of fat in margarine. The stability of fat crystals or quality depended on aging time. The authors have investigated a new process to control crystal growth of fats for margarine production using high pressure. Crystallization rate of fats can be accelerated at high pressure due to rise of crystallization temperature. Solid fat contents of the fats were also increased by the high pressure treatment. By applying high pressure, high quality puff pastry margarine with fine and stable fat crystals could be produced easily, and this puff pastry was found to produce a favorable pie with high volume.