The effect of 0.1–0.7% (w/w) of polyglycerol esters (PGEmix-8) on palm oil crystallization was studied
using focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) to analyze the in-line changes of crystal size
distribution during the crystallization. FBRM results show that 0.1–0.5% (w/w) of PGEmix-8 did not
significantly affect nucleation but slightly retarded crystal growth. The use of 0.7% (w/w) additive showed
greater heterogeneous nucleation compared to those with lower dosages of additive. Crystal growth was
also greatly reduced when using 0.7% (w/w) dosage. The morphological study indicated that the palm oil
crystals were smaller and more even in size than when more additive was added. Isothermal crystallization
studies using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed increased inhibitory effects on palm oil
crystal growth with increasing concentration of PGEmix-8. These results imply that PGEmix-8 is a nucleation
enhancing and crystal growth retarding additive in palm oil crystallization at 0.7% (w/w) dosage.