PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF VANASPATI MARKETED IN INDIA

Nine different brands of commercial vanaspati were analyzed for their various physicochemical characteristics. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra showed the characteristic peak at 966/cm corresponding to trans compounds for all the samples examined. The fatty acid composition showed that the trans fatty acid (elaidic acid) content ranged from 5.9 to 30.0%. The other fatty acids were palmitic acid followed by oleic, stearic and linoleic acids. The solid fat content determined by differential scanning calorimetry showed that the samples contained 54–67% solids at 20C, 42–59% at 25C and 0.2–19% at 40C. The slip melting point varied between 39 and 40C. The textural evaluation was carried out using cone penetrometry at 3, 20 and 25C. The fat having the highest trans content showed the highest hardness index. However, there was no direct correlation between the fatty acid composition and consistency.