ABSTRACT
Natural oils consist of several different triacylglycerols (TAGs) and thus have a melting range which may extend from, say, — 40°C to temperatures above 0°C. If part of the oil is crystalline at room temperature, the word/α ί rather than oil is commonly used. A fat consists of TAG crystals and liquid oil. The temperature at which the last of the crystals melt, called the final melting point or clear point, is rarely above 40°C for natural fats, but may be higher for fats that have been modified, e.g., by hydrogenation or by fractionation. Some of the individual TAGs in a fat often have a melting temperature far above the clear point, e.g., 72°C for β-tristearoylglycerol (SSS). The higher melting TAGs then are partly dissolved in the oil.
