Utilization of Olive-Pomace Oil for Enzymatic Production of Cocoa Butter-like Fat

Refined olive-pomace oil (ROPO) was utilized as a source for the production of a cocoa butter (CB)-like fat. Immobilized sn-1,3 specific lipase-catalyzed acidolysis of ROPO with palmitic (PA) and stearic (SA) acids was performed at various substrate mole ratios (ROPO:PA:SA) to produce major triacylglycerols (TAGs) of CB. Products obtained for various substrate mole ratios were compared to a commercial CB in terms of TAG content, melting profile, solid fat content (SFC) and microstructure. The fat produced at a substrate mole ratio of 1:2:6 was the most similar to CB. The product contained 11% POP, 21.8% POS, 15.7% SOS while commercial CB contained 18.9% POP, 33.1% POS and 24.7% SOS. The product had a melting peak of 29.9 °C while CB had one of 28.5 °C. Polarized light microscope (PLM) images showed that fat crystal network microstructures of this product and CB were very similar.