This invention relates to a fat blend, to a process for making the fat blend, to the use of the fat blend to prepare a margarine or spread, to the use of the fat blend as a shortening, to a method of making a margarine or spread, to a margarine or spread comprising the fat blend and to a dough comprising the fat blend and a baked product prepared from the dough.

Triglyceride fats are important components of many edible products. Fats used in the food industry are frequently provided from vegetable sources such as sunflower and palm.

Margarines and spreads are examples of food products that contain fats. They are emulsions of a fat phase and a water phase and usually contain an emulsifier. The properties of the fat contribute significantly to the overall structure of the margarine or spread, such as its hardness and mouthfeel. Margarines and spreads may be used in many applications, for example in baking and as a layer applied to bread or toast.

Shortening is another example of a food ingredient based on fats. Shortening is a fat that is used in baking and is typically a fat that has moldability at room temperature.

The desirable effect of layering that is achieved in bakery products such as puff pastry can be achieved using shortening, margarines or spreads. In this context, the fats are sometimes termed laminating fats. Puff pastry is a light, flaky pastry made from dough which contains layers of a fat. The layers of fat are usually obtained by spreading the fat on the dough, folding the dough, and rolling it out. The layered structure of the puff pastry is due at least in part to the layers of the fat. Products in which this type of structure is desirable include croissants, Danish pastries and pies. US 8586122 discloses laminating fats comprising from about 20% to about 80% by weight of an interesterified palm oil olein, from about 5% to about 25% by weight of a liquid oil and from about 15 to about 75% by weight of a fat selected from the group consisting of palm oil stearins, interesterified palm oil stearins, palm oil oleins, fully hydrogenated oils and mixtures thereof. EP-A-0719091 describes fats that are suitable for the manufacture of shortening and margarines and can be blends of refined shea oil and sunflower oil. The fats disclosed in this document have 5 % or less by weight of linolenic acid. The present invention seeks to provide compositions that are alternatives to palm oil and its fractions for use in margarines, spreads and shortening. In particular, the invention aims to provide a fat blend that exhibits good textural properties in margarine with a reduced tendency to exhibit post-hardening (i.e., hardening of the margarine over time). The invention also aims to provide a fat blend that has a good balance of properties for dough processing including being not too hard and not lumpy, yet providing good height and structure in baked products such as pastry.

According to the invention, there is provided a fat blend comprising greater than 5 % by weight linolenic acid (i.e., total c/ ^' s and trans C18:3), from 10 % to 50 % by weight stearic acid and less than 7 % by weight palmitic acid based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend, and comprising from 15 % to 50 % by weight SOS triglycerides based on total triglycerides present in the fat blend, where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid and O represents oleic acid. Also provided by the invention is a process for making the fat blend of the invention which comprises mixing shea stearin and rapeseed oil.

In another aspect, the invention provides the use of the fat blend of the invention to prepare a margarine or spread.

In a further aspect, the invention provides the use of the fat blend of the invention as a shortening.

Also provided by the invention is a method of making a margarine or spread comprising mixing a fat blend of the invention with an aqueous liquid.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a margarine or spread comprising from 1 to 99 % by weight of a fat phase comprising the fat blend of the invention and from 1 to 99 % by weight of an aqueous phase.

Another aspect of the invention is the use of the fat blend of the invention for reducing the post-hardening of a margarine or spread. The invention also provides a method of making a dough comprising mixing the fat blend of the invention with one or more other dough ingredients, such as flour and water. Also provided by the invention are a dough comprising the fat blend of the invention and a baked product prepared from the dough.

The invention further provides the use of the fat blend of the invention for improving the structure of a dough product, for example the height of puff pastry.

The term fatty acid, as used herein, refers to straight chain saturated or unsaturated (including mono-, di- and poly- unsaturated) carboxylic acids having from 8 to 24 carbon atoms. The term fat refers generally to compositions that contain a mixture of fatty acid glycerides. The glycerides in the fat blend of the invention will predominantly comprise triglycerides (such as greater than 95 % by weight based on total glycerides) but may comprise diglycerides and/or monoglycerides for example in amounts of less than 5 % by weight, typically less than 2 % by weight, based on total glycerides.

Unless specified otherwise, all percentages of fatty acids used herein refer to fatty acids bound as acyl groups in glycerides and are by weight based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present in the fat blends and compositions as acyl groups in glycerides. The levels of fatty acids present in the compositions of the invention can be determined by methods well-known to those skilled in the art such as GC-FAME (such as ISO 15304 or AOCS Ce1f-96).

Triglyceride composition, such as SOS, SLS and OOO, where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid, L represents linoleic acid and O represents oleic acid, may be determined by Ag-HPLC analysis. In this analysis, a silver nitrate impregnated silica column is used and detection takes place with an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD).

Triglyceride fats are often characterized in terms of their fatty acid content and the position of the fatty acids in the triglyceride. Typically, the abbreviation S is used to denote a saturated fatty acid residue and U denotes an unsaturated fatty acid residue. Thus, for example, a pure triglyceride containing three saturated fatty acid residues is denoted SSS (having the same meaning as S3 or S3) and a triglyceride having saturated fatty acids at the 1 and 3 positions and an unsaturated fatty acid at the 2- position is denoted SUS. S2U (or its equivalent term S ₂ U) refers to combined SSU and SUS, and SU2 (or SU ₂ ) refers to combined SUU and USU. U3 (or U ₃ ) refers to UUU.

Fat blends of the invention preferably comprise from 5.1 to 8.0 % by weight, more preferably from 5.2 to 7.0 % by weight, such as from 5.3 to 6.5 % by weight, of linolenic acid based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend. The term "linolenic acid" as used herein refers to total cis and trans C18:3.

Preferably, the fat blend comprises less than 3 % by weight SSS triglycerides based on total triglycerides in the fat blend, wherein S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid. More preferably, the fat blend comprises less than 2 % by weight, even more preferably less than 1.5 % by weight, SSS triglycerides based on total triglycerides in the fat blend, wherein S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid. The fat blend of the invention is typically a mixture of one or more stearin fractions of a vegetable oil with one or more liquid oils. The fat blend of the invention preferably comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of, a blend of shea stearin with rapeseed oil. Shea stearin and rapeseed oil are commercially available materials. Shea stearin may be produced by the wet or dry fractionation of sheanut oil, more preferably by dry fractionation.

Preferably, the fat blend comprises less than 6 % by weight, more preferably less than 5 % by weight, such as less than 4.5 % by weight, of SLS triglycerides based on total triglycerides present in the fat blend, wherein S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid and L is linoleic acid.

A preferred fat blend of the invention comprises from 30 to 70 % by weight shea stearin and from 70 to 30 % by weight rapeseed oil. A more preferred fat blend comprises from 30 to 60 % by weight shea stearin and from 70 to 40 % by weight rapeseed oil. More preferably, the fat blend comprises from 35 to 55 % by weight shea stearin and from 65 to 45 % by weight rapeseed oil. The fat blend may comprise shea stearin and rapeseed oil as the sole components. Alternatively, other fat components may also be present, for example in an amount of up to 10 % or up to 20 % by weight of the fat blend. The fat blends of the invention are typically free of components derived from genetically- modified sources. The fat blends of the invention are from vegetable sources. The fat blends are usually free of trans fatty acids, for example they may contain less than 1 %, more typically less than 0.5 %, by weight of trans fatty acids based on total fatty acids present.

The fat blends of the invention preferably comprise C18 fatty acids (including oleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid) in an amount of at least 70 % by weight, more preferably at least 80 % by weight or at least 85 % by weight, such as at least 90 % by weight based on total fatty acids present in glycerides.

Preferably, the fat blends comprise from 20 % to 40 % by weight stearic acid based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend.

The fat blends of the invention preferably have a content of C8 to C16 fatty acids of less than 10 % by weight, more preferably less than 8 % by weight, even more preferably less than 5 % by weight, based on total fatty acids present in glycerides.

Preferably the fat blends comprise less than 6 % by weight, more preferably less than 5 % by weight, palmitic acid based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend. Preferably, the fat blends of the invention have a linoleic acid content of less than 20 % by weight, more preferably less than 18 % by weight, such as from 5 to 15 % by weight, based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend.

Preferably, the fat blends of the invention comprise from 30 % to 45 % by weight SOS triglycerides based on total triglycerides present in the fat blend, where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid and O represents oleic acid.

The fat blends of the invention preferably have a weight ratio of S ₂ 0 (i.e., SSO and SOS) triglycerides to S ₂ L triglycerides (i.e., SSL and SLS) of greater than 5:1 , more preferably greater than 7:1 , even more preferably greater than 10:1 , where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid, O represents oleic acid and L represents linoleic acid.

The fat blends of the invention preferably have a content of OOO triglyceride (triolein) of from 10 % to 30 % by weight, more preferably from 10 to 25 % by weight, based on total triglycerides. In a preferred embodiment, the fat blend of the invention comprises from 5.1 to 8.0 % by weight linolenic acid, from 20 % to 40 % by weight stearic acid, less than 6 % by weight palmitic acid and less than 20 % by weight linoleic acid, based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend, and comprising from 15 % to 50 % by weight SOS triglycerides based on total triglycerides present in the fat blend, where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid and O represents oleic acid.

In another preferred embodiment, the fat blend of the invention comprises shea stearin and rapeseed oil and comprises from 5.2 to 8.0 % by weight linolenic acid, from 20 % to 40 % by weight stearic acid, less than 5 % by weight palmitic acid and from 5 to 15 % by weight linoleic acid, based on total C8 to C24 fatty acids present as acyl groups in glycerides in the fat blend, and comprising from 15 % to 50 % by weight SOS triglycerides based on total triglycerides present in the fat blend, where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid and O represents oleic acid, and a weight ratio of S2O triglycerides to SzL triglycerides of greater than 7:1 , where S represents saturated C8 to C24 fatty acid, O represents oleic acid and L represents linoleic acid.

The fat blends of the invention may be used in margarines and spreads, including tub, wrapper and bakery margarines.

A margarine or spread according to the invention preferably comprises from 1 to 99 % by weight of a fat blend of the invention and from 1 to 99 % by weight of an aqueous phase.

Margarines typically comprise from about 80 to 90 % by weight fat as a water-in-oil emulsion. Spreads usually have a lower fat content and include fat continuous or water continuous or bicontinuous spreads and fat reduced spreads.

Spreads and margarines may be formed by mixing the fat blend of the invention with an aqueous phase and, typically, an emulsifier. The amounts of vegetable fat and aqueous phase typically range from 10-90 % by weight vegetable fat and 90-10 % by weight aqueous phase, such as from 20-80 % by weight vegetable fat and 80-20 % by weight aqueous phase or from 30-70 % by weight vegetable fat and 70-30 % by weight aqueous phase. Further components of margarines and spreads include one or more of colouring agents (such as beta-carotene), flavouring agents (for example, salt and/or citric acid), preservatives (e.g., potassium sorbate) and emulsifiers (such as lecithin or fully hardened vegetable oil); typically, these components are present in an amount of less than 5 % (such as 0.1 to 3 %) by weight of the spread or margarine. The preparation of spreads and margarines from a vegetable fat and an aqueous phase is well-known to those skilled in the art.

An example of a spread or margarine that may be formed using a fat blend of the invention comprises from 10 to 90 % by weight fat from 10 to 90 % by weight water and from 0.1 to 10 % by weight of additives including one or more of colouring agents, flavouring agents and emulsifiers. It will be appreciated that the total amount of the components adds up to 100 %. Margarines and spreads formed using the fat blend of the invention have been found to exhibit good textural properties (including relatively low hardness). Margarines and spreads formed using the fat blend of the invention have also been found to exhibit reduced post-hardening. The margarines and spreads may be packaged, for example in tubs or wrappers.

The fat blends of the invention are typically suitable for use as a bakery fat and may be used as bakery fats. The fat blends may be used as bakery fats in the form of shortening, margarines or spreads. Shortening typically comprises the fat blend in plastified form, made plastic by mechanical treatment and/or by the addition of one or more emulsifiers.

Therefore, the shortening of the invention comprises the fat blend of the invention and, optionally, one or more emulsifiers (such as monoglycerides, diglycerides, PGPR and mixtures thereof). The shortening will usually comprise at least 95 % by weight of the fat blend of the invention, e.g., from 96 to 100 % by weight.

Fat blends of the invention may be used in the production of bakery products. The bakery products preferably have a laminated structure. For example, the fat blends, in the form of shortening, margarine or spread, may be used (or may be suitable for use) as laminating fats for puff pastry, pies or croissants.

Fat blends of the invention, in the form of shortening, margarine or spread, may be used to form a dough. The dough comprises at least flour and water and preferably comprises flour in an amount of from 30 to 60 % by weight, water in an amount of from 10 to 40% by weight and the fat blend of the invention in an amount of from 10 to 50% by weight based on the weight of the dough. Optionally, one or more further ingredients such as salt, flour modifier and emulsifier may be included in the dough.

The bakery products of the invention are made from dough. The dough preferably has a laminated structure. The bakery products include, for example, puff pastry, croissants, Danish pastries and pies.

The bakery products prepared according to the invention comprise the fat blend of the invention, preferably as a laminating fat. The dough that is used to produce the bakery product of the invention may comprise the fat blend (in the form of shortening, margarine or spread) as shortening and as a laminating fat. Alternatively, the dough may have been prepared using a fat other than the fat blend of the invention as shortening in the dough but the fat blend of the invention is used as a laminating fat (in the form of shortening, margarine or spread). A laminated dough may be prepared, for instance, by a method that comprises applying the fat blend of the invention (in the form of shortening, margarine or spread) to a plurality of layers of the dough to form a product in which layers of dough alternate with layers of the fat blend of the invention. Typically, the method comprises applying the fat blend of the invention to the dough, in the form of a shortening, margarine or spread, folding the dough and rolling the folded dough.

The doughs comprising the fat blend of the invention, as a laminating fat and/or as shortening, may be refrigerated, frozen or otherwise stored prior to use. The frozen dough may be packaged and sold to the consumer. In order to form a bakery product of the invention, the laminated dough is baked, preferably in an oven. Suitable times and temperatures for baking specific bakery products will be well-known to those skilled in the art.

Baked products produced using the fat blends of the invention have been found to impart good structure to pastry. For instance, the fat blends of the invention can increase the height of laminated products (such as puff pastry) and/or improve the structure of the pastry in the region of crimping.

It will be appreciated that in the fat blends, margarines, spreads, shortenings, doughs and bakery products of the invention, the percentage values of the various components, together with other optional components not explicitly stated, if present, will total 100%. The listing or discussion of an apparently prior-published document in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. Preferences and options for a given aspect, embodiment, feature or parameter of the invention should, unless the context indicates otherwise, be regarded as having been disclosed in combination with any and all preferences and options for all other aspects, embodiments, features and parameters of the invention. For example, the preferred features of the fat blend may be applied when the fat blend is used in the margarines, spreads and shortenings of the invention.

The following non-limiting examples illustrate the invention and do not limit its scope in any way. In the examples and throughout this specification, all percentages, parts and ratios are by weight unless indicated otherwise.

EXAMPLES Example 1 A fat blend was prepared by blending 50 % by weight shea stearin (SHs) and 50 % by weight rapeseed oil (RP) (Example 1-1). Another fat blend was prepared by blending 40 % by weight SHs and 60 % by weight RP (Example 1-2). The blend was analysed and the results compared to a blend of 60 % SHs with 40 % sunflower oil (SF) (Comparative Example 1 -3) and a blend of 50 % SHs with 50 % SF (Comparative Example 1-4). The results are set out in the following table.

g oso 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 sss 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.2

SLS 4.0 3.5 5.6 4.6

SSL 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1

SOL 4.1 5.9 4.6 5.8

OOO 18.3 21.2 4.2 5.1

3plus (>3 24.3 29.3 30.9 35.6 double

bonds)

SSO 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4

FAME

analysis

(GC)

C8:0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C10:0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C12:0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C15:0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C14:0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

C16:0 3.8 4.0 4.5 4.9

C16:1c 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

C16:1t 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C17:0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0

C18:0 31.4 25.3 38.0 32.2

C18:1 45.8 48.7 30.7 30.7

C18:1t 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C18:1c 45.7 48.7 30.6 30.6

C18:2 11.1 12.9 24.6 30.1

C18:2t 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3

C18:2c 11.1 12.8 24.4 29.8

C18:3 5.3 6.3 0.1 0.1

C18:3t 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0

C18:3c 5.1 6.1 0.1 0.1

TTrans 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3

C20:0 1.2 1.0 1.2 0.1

C20:1c 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.0

C20:2c 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5

C22:0 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.0

C22:1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0

C22:1t 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

C22:1c 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0

C24:0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0

C24:1c 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0

SAFA 36.8 30.9 44.4 38.8

MUFA 46.6 49.7 30.8 30.9

PUFA 16.4 19.2 24.7 30.1 IVFAME 73.0 81.5 69.3 36.9

Others 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2

In the above table, IVFAME refers to calculated iodine value and Cx:y refers to a fatty acid having x carbon atoms and y double bonds, c refers to cis fatty acids and t to trans fatty acids. TTrans means total trans. Fatty acid abbreviations M (myristic), P (palmitic), St (stearic), O (oleic), L (linoleic) and A (arachidic), etc are as normally used in the art. S is as defined above. SAFA, MUFA and PUFA refer to saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents, respectively.

Example 2

Margarines (80 % fat) were prepared from using the fat blends of Examples 1-1 to 1-4 and a palm-based fat comprising palm oil (PO) and palm oil stearin (POs) (Comparative Example 2-5). The formulations were as follows:

The margarine was processed through a conventional A,C sequence with a throughput of 8.4 kg/h, an exit temperature on the A-unit (1400 rpm) of 20°C, an exit temperature on the C-unit (100 rpm) of 24°C. The line pressure varied from 2 to 6.3 bar. The margarines are stored at 18°C after production. The following table sets out the process conditions. Process conditions 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5

Power Pump (Hz) 14 14 14 14 14

Rezones time Pilot (min) 1 1 1 1 1

Pressure (bar) 7 2 2 2.3 6.3

T. emulsion (°C) 55 55 55 55 55

Perfector 1 (rpm) 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400

Outcome temp Perfector 1 (°C) 20 20 20 20 20

Throughput kg/h 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4

Cooling Perfector 1 (°C) 4 4 4 4 4

Pin worker (rpm) 100 100 100 700 700

Temp Pin worker (°C) 24 24 24 24 24

Resting tube None None None None None

Configuration A,C A,C A,C A,C A,C

Example 3

The margarines produced in Example 2 were tested for their relative hardness. The results are given in the following table.

Margarine 2-5 251 239 282 391

Blend 1-5

RP/PO/Pos

25/25/50

The hardness was measured with a Brookfield TexturePro CT TA40 V1.5 as follows:

Probe: Cylinder 4.5 mm/ 20 mm long.

Depth: 2 mm

Speed: 0.5 m/s

max load 1100 gr.

The results show that the margarine according to the invention exhibited good softness compared to Comparative Examples 2-2 to 2-4 without the post-hardening effect seen in Comparative Example 2-5.

Example 4

A puff pastry was prepared by mixing 375 g fat blend (Fat blends of Examples 1-1 to 1-5) with 500 g patent flour, 260 g water, 5 g salt. The kneading was performed at 200 rpm slow and 1400 rpm fast.

Rolling decrease in mm 30-25-22-20-18-16-14-12-0. Baking was done at 200°C for 32 minutes.

Crimp top

Average Width in 15.5 17.3 9.3 14.3 21.0 mm (n=4)

The results show that the fat blends of the invention produce puff pastry that has good height and width of the crimp compared to the non-palm Comparative Examples.