A SAXS/WAXS study on fat crystal morphology and crystallization kinetics on emulsified fat
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | AAK AB (publ) |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 489 000 |
| Project duration | August 2019 - December 2021 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Research infrastructure - utilisation and collaboration |
| Call | Industrial pilot projects for utilisation of neutron- and photon based techniques at large scale infrastructures - spring 2019 |
| End-of-project report | 2019-02582_AAK.pdf (pdf, 289 kB) |
Important results from the project
The main goal of the project was for AAK to learn more about the possibilities of using synchrotron facilities such as MAX IV and to further disseminate the information within the company. Scientifically, the goal was to learn even more about how different fats crystallize in both emulsions and continuous fat phases by using SAXS / WAXS. The results showed some interesting crystallization phenomena that helped to increase the understanding of crystallization kinetics and morphology.
Expected long term effects
The results showed that emulsification have a large impact on the fat crystallization kinetics. The initiation of the fat crystallization and the type of polymorphs formed varied. The investigation of the fat crystallization in chocolate-like systems showed that sugar and cocoa particles mainly act as fillers. There was also an effect on the lamellar packing due to the different fats. Time-temperature controlled measurements are powerful tools to analyze the fat crystallization kinetics, which can be used for the design of fat systems and to increase the mechanistic understanding.
Approach and implementation
SAXS / WAXS experiments were performed on the NCD-SWEET beamline, ALBA Light Source, Spain, to investigate differences in fat crystallization between bulk fat and fat emulsions. Subsequently, SAXS experiments were performed at CoSAXS, MAX IV to investigate and evaluate the effects of particles in cocoa butter and other fats.