Optimum processing conditions on palm oil-based formulations are required to produce the desired quality margarine. As oils and fats contribute to the overall property of the margarine, this paper will review the importance of beta' tending oils and fats in margarine formulation, effects of the processing parameters -- emulsion temperature, flow-rate, product temperature and pin-worker speed -- on palm oil margarines produced and their subsequent behaviour in storage. Palm oil, which contributes the beta' crystal polymorph and the best alternative to hydrogenated liquid fats, and the processing conditions can affect the margarine consistency by influencing the solid fat content (SFC) and the types of crystal polymorph formed during production as well as in storage. Palm oil, or hydrogenated palm oil and olein, in mixture with oils of beta tending, can veer the product to the beta' crystal form. However, merely having beta' crystal tending oils is not sufficient as the processing conditions are also important. The emulsion temperature had no significant effect on the consistency and polymorphic changes of the product during storage, even though differences were observed during processing. The consistency of margarine during storage was high at low emulsion flow-rates and low at high flow rates. The temperature of the scraped-surface tube-cooler is the most important parameter in margarine processing. High temperature will produce a hardened product with formation of beta-crystals during storage. The speed of the pin-worker is responsible for inducing crystallization but, at the same time, destroys the crystal agglomerates, resulting in melting.
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