Applications of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in Oils and Fats Research. A Review

This review is designed to be a comprehensive review in a new way to help you to understand the principle and theory of Thermal Analysis with special emphasis on Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) as a new fast-growing and important technique used for authentication, characterization and detecting adulterations of oils and fats. DSC is a powerful instrument that measures the energy absorbed or released as a function of time or a controlled temperature profile. The sensor of the DSC is the heat flux plate which is designed to give superior performance and rugged reliability. The heat flux plate is capable of measuring small energy changes over the entire temperature range. Examples of measurements with DSC are Oxidative Stability, Melting Enthalpy, Glass Transition, Heat of Crystallization, Purity Determination and Heat Capacity. DSC can be used as a rapid method for assessment of oxidative stability, prediction of shelf life and evaluation of the quality of edible oils during refining. DSC holds a potential to be used as the reliable and reproducible technique for the detection of adulteration of animal body fat added in ghee individually and in combination of vegetable oil. DSC method is faster, require less sample size and no chemicals or solvents compared to other conventional, modern oxidative stability methods and conventional shelf life estimation.