Structure and Properties
Plant sterols are plant equivalents of cholesterol and have a very similar molecular structure. According to their structure, they can be divided into sterols and stanols. Stanols are a saturated subgroup of sterols. Plant stanol esters in Benecol products are fatty acid esters of plant stanols. The stanol part of the molecule is sitostanol or campestanol while the fatty acid residue originates from different vegetable oils.
Plant stanol esters have the following physical properties:
- Fat-like with a waxy texture
- Creamy white color in the solid form
- Viscous clear liquid with a bright yellow colour, bland odour and taste
- Insoluble in water and soluble in fat (hydrophobic)
- Viscosity higher than that of the triglyceride oil with the same fatty acid composition.
These physical properties can be tailored by changing the fatty acid composition. In different technological applications of Benecol products, the fatty acid part is selected so that the melting properties, texture and other characteristics of the plant stanol ester closely resemble the properties of the fat it replaces.
Read more about this topic: Plant Stanol Ester
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