Melting points, fats triglycerides

The difference between fats and oils is merely one of melting point fats are solid at room temperature (20°C) whereas oils are liquids. Both classes of compounds are triglycerides. 

Japan Wax. Japan wax [8001-39-6] is a fat and is derived from the berries of a small tree native to Japan and China cultivated for its wax. Japan wax is composed of triglycerides, primarily tripalmitin. Japan wax typically has a melting point of 53°C, an acid number of 18, and a saponification number of 217. Principal markets include the formulation of candles, poHshes, lubricants, and as an additive to thermoplastic resins. The product has some food-related apphcations. 

Wooding, F. B. P. and Kemp. P. 1975B. High-melting-point triglycerides and the milk-fat globule membrane. J Dairy Res. 42, 419-426. 

The positioning of fatty acids on the triglyceride chain follows several patterns. If unsaturated fatty acids are limited in availability, nature tends to place them in the number 2 position to obtain the lowest melting point for a plant s triglycerides. If more plentiful, the preferred positions will be 2 and 1 or 3 or both.44 In contrast, saturated fatty acids are more likely to be in the 2 position in fats of warm-blooded animals, with palmitic acid in the 2 position in (pork) lard as an example. 

Fatty acids consist of a hydrocarbon chain with a carboxylic acid at one end. They can be classified on the basis of the length of the hydrocarbon chain (Table 2.2) and whether there are any double bonds. Trivial names of fatty acids such as butyric, lauric, oleic and palmitic acids are in common use in the food industry. A form of short-hand is used to refer to triglycerides where POS is palmitic, oleic, stearic. If the chain length is the same an unsaturated fat will always have a lower melting point. Another classification of fats that is used is in terms of the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids. Saturated fats are fats without any double bonds. Many animal fats are saturated, but some vegetable fats, e.g. coconut oil, are saturated also. Mono-unsaturated fats include oils like olive oil but also some partially hydrogenated fats. Polyunsaturated fats have many double bonds and include sunflower oil. Because they are... 

The complexity of chocolate manufacture arises from the polymorphic nature of its constituent fats, which can come in at least five crystal forms, each with an individual melting point. Cocoa butter is chemically a multicomponent mixture of triglycerides and trace compounds (Davis and Dimick 1986). Approximately 85% of the composition consists of just three triglycerides POP ( 20%), POS ( 40%) and SOS ( 25%), where palmitic (P), oleic (O) and stearic (S) are the fatty acids attached to the glycerol base. The precise composition depends on factors such as growing conditions and therefore can vary between batches, especially from different geographic regions (Chaiseri and Dimick 1989). 

It has been reported extensively that fats solidify in more than one crystalline type (2-23). Triglycerides exhibit three main crystal types—ot, p, and p—with increasing degrees of stability and melting point. The molecular conformations and packings in the crystal of each polymorph have been reported. In the ot form, the fatty acid chain axes of the triglyceride are randomly oriented and the ot form reveals a freedom of molecular motion with the most loosely packed hexagonal subcell structure. 

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