3.3.1. Stage I
During cooling, a high-melting fraction, likely the high-melting
MP, initiates the crystallization process. This stage corresponds to
the first crystallization peak in Fig. 5 and the melting peak with the
highest peak temperature (52 °C) in Fig. 6D. MP will crystallize in
the α polymorphic form, as shown in the previous part. However,
the melting temperature was lowered (52 °C compared to 68 °C,
see Fig. 3). Following the Hildebrand equation, the melting point of
a high-melting component is reduced when blended with lowermelting
components (Zhou & Hartel, 2006). In addition, it is also possible
that some of the highest-melting components of PO
co-crystallized with the MP, which has a retarding effect on crystallization.
Indeed, Marangoni stated that it is likely that chemical and
structural affinity between the crystallizing TAGs and an emulsifier
which is similar to them, results in co-crystallization of the molecules.Also Lutton and Jackson (1967) claimed that the more chemically similar
the components are, the greater is their interaction or solid solution
formation.