Promotional Effects of New Types of Additives on Fat Crystallization

We examined the promotional effects of additives on fat crystallization, such as inorganic (talc, carbon nanotube (CNT), and graphite) and organic (theobromine, ellagic acid dihydrate (EAD), and terephthalic acid) materials. The triacylglycerols (TAGs) of trilauroylglycerol (LLL), trimyristoylglycerol (MMM), and tripalmitoylglycerol (PPP) were employed as the fats. The additives (1 wt%) were added to the molten TAGs, and then the mixtures were cooled at a rate of 1°C/min followed by heating at a rate of 5°C/min. The crystallization and melting properties were observed using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and polarized optical microscope (POM). Consequently, we found that the above six additives remarkably increased the initial temperatures of crystallization (Ti) on cooling without changing the melting temperatures. For example, in the case of LLL, the increases in Ti were 2.6°C (talc), 3.9°C (CNT), 8.1°C (graphite), 1.1°C (theobromine), 2.0°C (EAD), and 6.8°C (terephthalic acid). Very similar effects were observed for the crystallization of MMM and PPP with the six additives. Furthermore, the polymorphs of the first occurring crystals were changed from metastable to more stable forms by many of these additives. The POM observation revealed that the crystallization was initiated at the surfaces of additive particles. This study has shown for the first time that the heterogeneous nucleation of fat crystals can be greatly promoted by new types of additives. Such additives have great potential to promote fat crystallization by not only hydrophobic but also hydrophilic molecular interactions between the fats and additives.