Coconut Oil: Physical Properties

Coconut Oil: Physical Properties
Coconut oil is a fat consisting of about 90% saturated fat. The oil contains predominantly triglycerides with 86.5% saturated fatty acids, 5.8% monounsaturated fatty acids, and 1.8% polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Of the saturated fatty acids, coconut oil is primarily 44.6% lauric acid, 16.8% myristic acid and 8.2% palmitic acid, although it contains seven different saturated fatty acids in total. Its only monounsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid while its only polyunsaturated fatty acid is linoleic acid.

Unrefined coconut oil melts at 20-25 °C and smokes at 170 °C (350 °F), while refined coconut oil has a higher smoke point of 232 °C (450 °F).

Coconut oil has a long shelf life compared to other oils, lasting up to two years due to its resilience to high temperatures.

Coconut oil is best stored in solid form - i.e. at temperatures lower than 24.5 °C (76°F) in order to extend shelf life. However, unlike most oils, coconut oil will not be damaged by warmer temperatures.

Coconut oil should be stored in stainless steel, polyethylene or fiberglass tanks: these materials do not degrade the quality of coconut oil.

Tanks made of unlined carbon steel will add rust to the oil and linings in carbon steel tanks will degrade due to the inherent softening effect coconut oil will have on the various linings.
Coconut Oil: Physical Properties

Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Blue Cheese

Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Blue Cheese
The main different among these cheeses is that Roquefort is made from sheep’s milk while Gorgonzola and blue are made from cow’s milk.

Also, to be labeled, Roquefort cheese must be made in France.

Blue cheese may be made from raw, heated or pasteurized whole milk or from skim milk and cream mixtures, but butterfat content should be about 3.5%.

Raw milk or milk that has been heated at temperatures lower than those used for pasteurization is preferred, since lipase action is required for ripening of this type of cheese and heating pasteurization temperature inactivates lipase.

Lipase is an enzyme that splits fats into glycerin and fatty acids.

If skim milk and cream used as the main ingredients, and the cream is too yellow in color, it may bleached by treating with benzoyl peroxide.

If the whole milk is used, the temperature is adjusted to 85 F (29.4 C) and the milk is homogenized.

After homogenization, the temperature of the product is raised to 90 F (32.2 C), a lactic acid starter culture is added and the product is held at 90 F (32.2 C) for a period of 1 hr.

The enzyme rennet is the added to coagulate the mixture, which is allowed to stand for another 45-60 mins.

The curd then is cut into half in. (1-3 cm) cubes, after which it is stirred for 15 min while being held at the incubation temperature.

The whey is then drained and the curd is mixed with about 1% salt, and then placed in racks lined with cheesecloth and allowed to drain.

After draining, the curd in sterilized hoods, and as the hoops are filled, and the curd is mixed with bread crimson which a culture of mold Penicillium roqueforti has been inoculated and allowed to grow.

The hoop containing the curd are held at 65 – 68 F (18.3 – 20 C) for part of the day, after which the product is placed in the room at 50-55 F (10-12.8 C) where salt is applied tom the surface of the cheese daily until the slat content reaches 4-4.5%.

The cheeses are then removed to a ripening room where they are held for 2-3 months at 50-55 F (10-12.8 C) and a relative humidity of 5%.

The latter procedure permits air to enter to the products so that the mold, which requires oxygen, will grow.

After curing, the surfaces of the cheeses are scrapped, and the cheeses are then cut into small wedges and wrapped in the plastics cups.
Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Blue Cheese

Fructose as Sweetener in Soft Drinks

Fructose as Sweetener in Soft Drinks
Fructose can also used as a sugar substitute in crystalline or syrup form.

Fructose was first extracted from cane sugar more than a century ago. And it’s found in varying amounts in such fruits as apples, grapes, oranges and berries.

Commercially it is manufactured using sucrose as a starting material.

Sucrose is first hydrolyzed to a glucose-fructose mixture.

The monosaccharides glucose and fructose are separated using chromatography and the fructose is then crystallized.

Fructose has some interesting physiological properties. It is monosaccharide sugar with an energy content of 4 kcals/g (17 kJ/g) but due to its increased sweetness can be used at lower levels than sucrose.

Fructose is slowly absorbed and metabolized by the body, independent of insulin production, and does not cause rapid rises in blood glucose after ingestion.

It is therefore, suitable for diabetics and also for use in drinks intended to act as a lower more sustained energy source.

Owing it to limited effect on blood glucose, it is a low glycaemic index sweetener (compared with glucose).

This is an area of increased nutritional interest and may be a stimulus to the greater use of fructose in drinks.

Fructose has also been shown to have an increase satiety effect, compared with other sweeteners.

Mineral absorption (iron and calcium) has also been shown to be positively affected by the incorporation of fructose into the diet.

Chemically, fructose is very active and it readily takes part in maillard reactions, which may cause browning in some products.

It is available in crystalline anhydrous form and also in high concentrations syrups.

Fructose differs in several ways from glucose, the other half of the sucrose (sugar) molecule.

Fructose is absorbed from the gastrointestinal (GI) track) by a different mechanism than glucose.

Glucose stimulates insulin release from the pancreas, but fructose does not.

Fructose also enters muscle and other cells without depending on insulin, whereas most glucose enters cell in an insulin-dependent manner.

Finally, one inside the cell, fructose, can enter the pathways that provide the triglyceride backbone (glycerol) more efficiently than glucose.

Thus, high consumption of fructose as occurs with the rising consumption of soft drinks and the use of high fructose corn sweeteners may be a “fat equivalent”.

Most fructose used to sweetened commercial products is obtained from corn, not squeezed from fruit a process that is impractical for mass production.

The sweetener in commercial products is usually not fructose alone but a combination of fructose, glucose and other sugar.

The sweet taste in many soft drinks comes from a mixture of 55% fructose and 43% glucose.

Fructose as Sweetener in Soft Drinks