CHARACTERISTICS OF SUNFLOWER WAX, CARNAUBA WAX AND BEESWAX IN PALM SUPEROLEIN BLENDED OIL

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of different percentages (0%-3.5%) of sunflower wax (SFW), carnauba wax (CW) and beeswax (BW) in 1:1 (v:v) palm superolein and sunflower oil blend (OSW). Selected physicochemical analyses, namely fatty acid composition, crystal structure and shear viscosity were conducted for OSW selection to be used in a product that is spreadable at low temperature (5°C-10°C) and phase separation does not occur at high temperature (40°C-45°C). Mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated as well as saturated fatty acids of all OSW were significantly different ( p <0.05). Crystals in OSW with SFW showed needle-like structure and fibrous, while OSW with CW was observed to be spherulitic and OSW with BW was needle-like in shape at 10°C, 25°C, 40°C and 45°C. OSW with 3.5% SFW and 3.5% CW showed dense packing at 45°C; hence, it had the potential to prevent phase separation in the end product at high temperatures. The shear viscosity of all OSW at all temperatures was below 2.0 Pa.s, in which SFW showed the highest value at 5°C, although the value was low. Therefore, based on the experimental parameters, 3.5% CW can be implied as the best structuring agent, followed by 3.5% SFW.