Palm Oils Solution to Trans-Free Baked Goods

“Trans” is on the tips of everyone’s tongues these days—consumers and product designers alike. They all want to kick out the trans, but the functionality of hydrogenated-vegetable-oil shortenings has formed the backbone of baked goods for decades.

According to the American Palm Oil Council (APOC), one solution to removing trans fats from baked goods is natural palm oil. Palm oil—and its solid fraction, palm stearin—can help food-product developers reformulate and design new baked goods with “zero trans” content on the label. And shortening and margarine created with palm stearin can deliver comparable functionality to their hydrogenated counterparts. A common approach to creating trans-free margarine and shortening is to blend stearin with soybean, sunflower, cottonseed or canola oil.

Processors separate palm oil under controlled thermal conditions into two components: a semisolid form (palm stearin) and a liquid form (palm olein). Palm stearin is available in a range of melt points and iodine values (IVs). Hard (low-IV) stearin is less susceptible to oxidation than soft (high-IV) stearin. “Both low-IV and high-IV stearin are suitable for biscuits, cookies, crackers, cake mix, etc.,” explains the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC), noting that hard stearin is less common in baked goods than soft stearin. Palm stearin is slightly yellowish in color, which works well in most baked goods. However, bleached-white stearin is also available.

The melt points for palm stearin range from 38° to 45° C. “This is important for the functionality of the shortening in creating flakiness and crispness in baked products,” notes MPOPC. APOC can help baked-goods manufacturers align specific melt points and IVs in palm-oil ingredients to create application- specific shortenings.

Consumers increasingly seek convenience. To enhance the quality of convenience products without trans, palm oil works well in ready-mix, powdered, short-pastry products. It delivers a good distribution of fat in the mix, and the oil’s stability helps prevent oxidation, thereby extending shelf life.

Processors obtain palm kernel oil from the kernel of the oil-palm fruit. Like palm oil stearin, palm kernel stearin is the semisolid fraction of palm kernel oil obtained from fractionation, along with palm kernel olein. Palm kernel oil, olein and stearin all find use in trans-fat-free margarines. In such products, the stearin contributes consistency via its solid-fat content, vitamin E, and other components like acceptable color and flavor. It also adds stability, which translates into increased shelf life.

In addition to helping designers remove trans fats, palm oil ingredients also contribute vitamin E. “Vitamin E—tocopherol and tocotrienol—could be present in palm stearin up to about 500 ppm,” notes MPOPC, adding that those levels also occur in refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm olein. Studies have found that tocopherols and tocotrienols, antioxidant isomers of vitamin E, might help lower the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.

American Palm Oil Council 
21515 Hawthorne Boulevard, Suite 690 
Torrance, CA 90503 
Phone: 310/944-3910 
Fax: 310/944-3544 
E-mail: [email protected]  
Website: www.americanpalmoil.com