Polymorphic Phase Transitions in Bulk Triglyceride Mixtures

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are among the most important ingredients in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. Many physical properties of such products, including morphology, texture, and rheology, are determined by the phase behavior of the included TAGs. Triglycerides are also of special interest for the production of solid lipid nanoparticles, applied for controlled drug delivery and for encapsulation of bioactive ingredients. In this paper, we study the polymorphic behavior of complex TAG mixtures, composed of two to six mixed TAGs, by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray scattering techniques, aiming to reveal the general rules for their phase behavior upon cooling and heating. The results show that two or more coexisting phases form upon solidification (alpha, beta ', and/or beta), the number of which depends strongly on the cooling rate and on the number of components in the mixture. No completely miscible alpha or beta ' phases were observed. The structure of the most stable beta polymorphs, formed upon subsequent heating of the solidified samples, does not depend on the thermal history of the samples. For all mixtures studied, we observed one-component beta domains, coexisting with binary mixed beta domains with composition and structure, which do not depend on the specific TAG ratio in the mixture. In other words, for a mixture with k-saturated TAGs, we observed (2k - 1) different beta phases. These conclusions provide some predictive power when analyzing the phase transition properties of TAG mixtures.

Automated summary

This paper studies the polymorphic behavior of complex TAG mixtures, composed of two to six mixed TAGs, in order to reveal the general rules for their phase behavior upon cooling and heating. The results show that two or more coexisting phases form upon solidification, the number of which depends on the cooling rate and the number of components in the mixture. The structure of the most stable beta polymorphs formed upon subsequent heating does not depend on the thermal history of the samples.