Melting point of fats

The melting point of fats used for spreads should not exceed mouth temperature (37°C) as an unpleasant waxy effect, termed palate-cling, starts to develop above this temperature. 

Figure 20.3. Fluorescence properties of an emulsion at different temperatures. (A) Excitation spectra of vitamin A of a milk fat-in-water emulsion (melting point of fats = 28°C) recorded at...

Multiple melting points of fats had already been discovered in the nineteenth century. Clarkson and Malkin showed that this melting behavior resulted from the polymorphism of TAGs (1). In the crystalline state, TAG molecules adopt the ideal... 

Cyclopropenoid Fatty Acids. Cotton, and other plants in the Malvaceae family, contain a pair of unique cyclopropene fatty acids (CPFA). These two fatty acids, sterculic and malvalic acid, are generally referred to collectively as cyclopropenoid fatty acids. Sterculic acid is the most active of the two fatty acids whose general action is to inhibit the desaturation of stearic to oleic fatty acid in the animal body with a resultant alteration in membrane permeability or an increase in the melting point of fats. 

The properties of the various fatty acids depend mainly upon the combination of (1) the number of unsaturated bonds present, and (2) the length of the carbon chain. Table 0-3 shows how these chemical characteristics affect melting points. Melting points of fats are very important in nutrition, because fats that remain solid in the digestive tract are utilized poorly. 

Although it is not shown in Table OA, it is noteworthy that melting points of fats containing both low- and high-melting fatty acids are intermediate between the two extremes. 

---