Shortenings: types and formulations

Richard D. O Brien Plano, Texas, Cottonseed Oil, Shortenings Types and Formulations. 

All types of shortening have been formulated and prepared to possess essential functional properties. It is apparent that these properties can be impaired or totally destroyed by even limited exposure to excessively high temperatures during packaging, storage, or shipment. 

Com bread biscuits are very popular in the United States and other parts of the world. There are many formulations and types that differ in volume, apparent density, texture, and flavor. Most formulations are based on a mixture of wheat flour and yellow or white maize meal or flour, baking powder, shortening/lard, and other ingredients that improve texture and flavor (Table 10.9). The functional gluten of the wheat flour allows the production of more aerated breads, whereas maize flour imparts the characteristic flavor. These ingredients are mixed with water to obtain a dough that is processed similar to regular biscuits. 

In China, canola-type rapeseed oil products still contribute a very small proportion of total rapeseed oil products. Oil from both high erucic acid rapeseed and canola rapeseed represent the largest use of edible oil at present. The oil from these two sources is almost entirely used as cooking oil. There are very little amounts of this oil used for margarine or shortening formulations at present. Efforts are being made to widen the spectrum of edible oil products and convert from HEAR cultivation to canola cultivation. 

The crystal structure of a shortening or other fat-based product is determined by (1) source oil composition, (2) processing, and (3) tempering or maturing. Crystallization is induced when melted fat is cooled rapidly to initiate the formation of crystal nuclei or seed. The seeds form templates upon which crystals grow. Formulation, cooling rate, heat of crystallization, and agitation levels affect the number and type of crystals formed. 

The study focused on four types of samples formulated from hydrogenated and liquid soybean oil (i) margarine/spread oils isolated from commercially formulated products, (ii) commercially hydrogenated margarine (IV 69) and shortening (TV 83) basestocks, (iii) margarine/spread oils formulated in the laboratory by blending... 

For reasons of economy, short drying cycles are of course highly desirable, and much time and effort are often devoted by the pharmaceutical industry to improve (shorten) historical drying cycles. A mature consideration of these seven factors must, however, lead to the important conclusion that for any given product formulation and vial type, there is a limit to any process cycle reduction that can be achieved, without putting the quality of the dried product at risk. 

---