Properties of margarine

Margarine was invented in France by Hippolyte Mèges-Mouries. It was patented and first manufactured in 1869. The product was developed to meet butter shortages caused by the increasing urban population during the Industrial Revolution, as well as the need for a table spread with satisfactory keeping quality for the armed forces.

Margarine is a butter substitute that is made from vegetable oils that have been solidified by a process called hydrogenation. Depending on the type of margarine, the process can be fully hydrogenated, causing the oils to solidify, or partially hydrogenated, causing the semisolid oils to be lighter and more spreadable with more water, carbohydrate and protein stabilizers.

The aqueous phase consists of water, salt and preservatives. The fatty phase, which contributes to the polymorphic behaviour of margarine, is a blend of oils and fats. Margarine is recognized as a healthy table spread and a cheaper alternative to butter for use in cooking and in food preparation.

A good margarine should not suffer oil separation, discolouration, hardening, sandiness, graininess and water separation. The oils and fats, process conditions and handling methods used should be selected so as not to produce a strong crystal network, crystal migration and transformation of β’- to β-crystals.

Spreadability is one of the most highly regarded attributes of margarine, perhaps

second only to flavour. Products with a solid fat index (SFI) of 10–20 at serving temperature were found to be optimal on a consumer panel.

Consistency and texture
Consistency is the measure of smoothness, evenness and plastic state in margarine. It can range from very soft, like petroleum jelly, to soft, medium, firm, tough, hard and brittle. Texture is a measure of the structure.

Oil Separation Oil-off occurs in margarine when the matrix of fine fat crystals is no longer of sufficient size or character to be able to enmesh all of the liquid oil. The problem is most serious for stick products as the outside of the inner wrappers may become oil soaked, and if severe, oil will leak out of the package.

An important physical attribute of margarines is that they are spreadable even when first lifted out of a refrigerator. A harder margarine is used in the bakery industry and a still harder margarine with a high melting point is used in puff pastry to facilitate rolling into the dough.

Melting A high-quality table margarine melts quickly with a cooling sensation on the palate. Flavour and salt components of the aqueous phase are immediately perceptible by the taste buds, and there is no lingering greasiness or waxiness. The melting performance of margarines is normally expressed by the solid phase line. This gives the concentration of solids (determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) as a function of temperature. For margarines, the temperature range from around 10ºC (leaving the refrigerator) to around 40ºC (melting in the mouth) is of importance.

Solid fat content
The solid attributes of a margarine fat through a temperature range is characterized by its solid fat content SFC or solid fat index (SFI) profile. SFC is an important property of an oil or fat, and is the ratio of the solid to the total phase at a particular temperature.

Polymorphic form
Polymorphic forms are the solid phases of the same chemical composition with different crystalline structures, but which yields identical liquid phases on melting.
Properties of margarine

Margarine for making bread

A harder margarine is used in the bakery industry and a still harder margarine with a high melting point is used in puff pastry to facilitate rolling into the dough.

Margarine is important in baking as it ensures that the end product is easy to eat, making it an important ingredient in pie crusts. This is because the margarine creates a barrier between the gluten molecules, stopping them from cross-linking when liquid is added.

Margarine is an emulsion of water in oil. t: The solid fat builds the structure of the margarine; it provides a kind of network which prevents the liquid part from oiling out. Furthermore, the solid component is responsible for the solidity of the margarine and influences melting behaviour and spreadability.

The most important functional characteristics of margarines are spreadability, oil separation and melting temperature. A high quality margarine melts quickly at body temperature with a cooling effect in the mouth, does not leave a greasy or waxy feel on the palate and delivers a quick flavor perception.

Margarine is recognized by health professionals and consumers alike as a healthy table spread and a cheaper alternative to butter for use in cooking and in food preparation. Margarine makes an important nutritional contribution to the diet by being a source of one or more essential fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A and/or D and by being low in saturated fat.
Margarine for making bread

What is margarine made of?

Margarine was developed to fill both an economic and a nutritional need when it was first made as a butter substitute. Margarine was first invented in France 1869. Napoleon III asked his food chemist to make something which tasted like butter, but did not cost so much.

Originally, margarine was made from oil discharge from solidified fat. After World War II, hydrogenated vegetable oils were adopted as a cheaper source of margarine. Currently, most margarine is made out of partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

Vegetable oils have no natural vitamin A, so margarine is required by law to be “fortified” with at least 9,000 U.S.P. units of vitamin A. Actually about 99% of the margarine made today contains 15,000 units or more.

 

The “butter” flavor of margarine comes from the skim milk that has been cultured by starter bacteria. Some margarine manufacturers add diacetyl, which also produces a butterlike flavor.

In addition, whey, from cheese making, is also used with salt to flavour the margarine. By law, margarine must contain 8% fat and no more than 16% water, Vitamins A and D must be added. Margarine is used for cakes and pastries.
What is margarine made of?

Margarine

Margarine was developed to be a substitute for butter. The margarine market forms part of the wider oils and fats market, which includes a range of edible fats used for direct consumption, for cooking or in baking etc. It is great as a table spread.

Margarine is the earliest and most successful of the designed food staples. Made from vegetable oils, it appears to be more healthful, as a plant derived food.

It’s certainly cholesterol free, and vegetable oils contained more unsaturated fatty acids than butter. In general, the more solid the margarine, the more hydrogenated fat it contains and the softer or more liquefied the margarine, the less hydrogenated fat.

Spreadability, particularly of the soft, tub form is margarine’s unique functional advantage. Physically, margarine is a water in oil emulsion, where the oil phase consist of both liquid oil and crystalline fat at room temperature.
Margarine

The Invention of Margarine

The Invention of Margarine
Oleomargarine was invented un 1867 by the French chemist Hippolyte Mege-Mouriez, who entered a contest sponsored by Napoleon III.

The contest awarded a prize for anyone who found a satisfactory butter substitute to be used by the navy and the poor.

Mege-Mouriez used margaric acid, a fatty acid component he derived from finely minced beef.

Margaric acid was in fact isolated by Michael Eugene Chevreul in 1813. Chevreul named the product “margaric” because the lustrous pearly drops of the product reminded him of the Greek word for pearl – margarites.

Mege-Mouriez knew he needed to find a name for his product in order to differentiate it from butter. He came up with the word “oleomargarine” because so much of his product consisted of margaric acid.

The prefix “oleo” was taken from the Latin word oleum, which is a name for beef fat, the principal ingredient used.

The word “oleomargarine” was later simplified to “margarine”. Margarine was first introduced in the United States when Mr. Paraf opened the Oleo-Margarine Manufacturing Company in New York City in 1873.

The product was not an immediate success since it was considered a poor man’s butter. Even though its price was much cheaper than that of butter it was considered an inferior product. In addition, new laws were enacted to restrict consumption of margarine.

New York was the first state to enact an outright ban on the use of the product in 1884. This law was struck down by the courts a year later. Congress then got into the act and passed the Margarine Act of 1886, which is imposed tax of 2 cents a pound on margarine and required a manufacturers and dealers to be regulated by licenses.

Margarine consumption didn’t really expand until World War II, when butter was relatively scarce due to rationing and margarine was plentiful.

As a result, per capital consumption of butter declined from 17 pounds in 1940 to 10 pounds in 1948.

At the same time, per capita consumption of margarine rose from 2.4 to 6.1 pounds.
The Invention of Margarine