Margarine Manufacturing
Ever since Hippolyte Mège Mouriès, a French food research chemist developed margarine as a butter alternative for Napoleon III, the quest for an improved product at reduced cost has been an issue. To the average person, margarine may appear to simply be a whipped fat, something like whipped cream only denser. However, the actual production of margarine is a anything but a simple process, involving the mixing of various oils from different sources to meet a specific end product functional requirement.
The quality or functional factors are often intertwined in the formulation and production of the margarine. For example, the length of the carbon chain of the oils used will influence its melting point which is seen both as a quality and functional factor (don't want it melting in the butter dish at room temperature).
Common plant oil sources used in the production of margarine:
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Even with the variety of oils sources available, the oils usually need to be modified through fractionation/separation and esterification to produce the end desired oil. These modified oils then undergo a chilling process to produce fat crystals. During the chilling process the product is also 'worked', which is a kneading process. The amount of modification required of the oils along with the desired functionality of the end product can be formulated using Forma's NC software.
Using Format NC software, margarine has commonly been formulated using the following parameters:
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