Comparison of pulsed NMR and ultrasonic velocity techniques for determining solid fat contents

An ultrasonic velocity technique has been compared with pulsed NMR'weight' and 'direct' methods of determining solid fat contents (SFC). Measurements were made at 18°C using samples 0–20% of rapidly cooled tristearin in paraffin oil, tristearin in sunflower oil and tripalmitin in paraffin oil. Correlations between the amount of triglyceride added and the SFC predicted by each of the techniques were always better than 0.995 ( n ± 13). The precisions of the ultrasonic technique (0.2%) and the weight method (0.3%) were significantly better than that of the direct method (0.7%). The ultrasonic technique may therefore offer a suitable alternative or adjunct to the established pulsed NMR technique for SFC determinations; it has considerably lower capital cost and a faster sampling rate.