Margarine Spreads

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A spread is a food product that is literally spreadable, generally with knife, applied onto products such as bread and crackers. Spread is often applied to food in order to enhance the flavour and/or texture of the food, which may be considered bland without it. Spreads are similar in composition to margarine, but usually are lower in fat content. Low fat spreads have a fat content of 40g/100g, whilst very low fat spreads can have as little as 5g/100g. Spreads may be fortified with vitamins A and D although this is not required by food law and regulation. Plant based spreads or margarine usually made from a mixture of unsaturated oils such as rapeseed, sunflower, olive, palm and coconut oil. The oils undergo a process called ‘hydrogenation’ which results in the production of solid fat. Margarines contain less saturated fatty acids and more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids than that present in butter. Partial hydrogenation results in the production of trans- fatty acids. This issue has made consumer more conscious in selection of this high fat contain product. The fatty acid composition of margarine or plant based spreads can be check on the

The term used for the extraction of coconut oil directly from coconut milk is wet processing or aqueous processing. This method eliminates solvent usage which reportedly may lower the investment cost and energy requirements. Furthermore, Villarino et al. reported it eliminates the RBD process. Study carried out by Rosenthal, Pyle, and Niranjan (1996) found that even though the concept appears potentially attractive, however, the method yields comparatively low content of oil, which has discouraged its commercial application. The wet processing can only be carried out via breaking the emulsion of coconut milk. This is rather difficult due to the high stability emulsion of the coconut milk. The three mechanisms of destabilization are as