A Comparative Biochemistry Analysis: Butter versus Margarine

This biochemistry report provides a comparative analysis of butter and margarine, focusing on their composition and production. Butter, a dairy product, is made by churning cream, resulting in a high saturated fat content. Margarine, an oil-based product, is made from vegetable oils and undergoes hydrogenation to achieve a solid form, containing unsaturated fats. The report highlights the differences in fatty acid structures, specifically the presence or absence of hydrogen bonds, and how these differences impact melting points and physical properties. Saturated fatty acids in butter have higher melting points, while unsaturated fatty acids in margarine have lower melting points due to the presence of double bonds. The report also references the hydrogenation process used in margarine production and discusses the impact of these differences on health implications. The report concludes by referencing the different properties of both butter and margarine.

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Biochemistry
Butter and margarine, both of these fats are extensively used in food preparation. Butter
is made by churning cream or milk for separating the solid components from the liquid. It is a
diary product and used for baking, cooking and as spread. When the milk is churned, the fat
content in the butter gets separated from the butter milk that eventually makes it a solid
containing around 20% of water and milk proteins as solids. Margarine an oil based product and
is made from plan based oils like canola oil. It is used as a substitute for butter. Margarine is
made of 80% vegetable oil and water and flavoured so that it tastes like butter (Pimpin et al.,
2016).
Butter naturally contains a higher amount of saturated fats since it is made from churning
cream, while, margarine is prepared from hydrogenation of unsaturated vegetable as well as fish
oils. There has been many debates regarding the usefulness and preference of one over the other
because of the physiochemical properties of the two. Margarine is made from unsaturated fats,
however, the hydrogenation process which is followed in changing its liquid form to solid
involves saturating fats. This also requires other additives that are added for stabilizing it, thus
making it an un-natural product (Liu et al., 2017).
The major difference between butter and margarine is that butter contains saturated fat
and margarine contains unsaturated fat. Fatty acids contain a long chain of carbon atoms which is
5,10 or 18 atoms long or even more longer and an one acid group (–COOH). The main
difference between these two fats is characterised with the presence or absence of hydrogen
bonds (Fritsche, 2015). The presence of hydrogen bonds and melting temperature are strongly
correlated. Fatty acids with more number of hydrogen atoms generally have a higher melting
temperature. In saturated fatty acids, the fatty acid chain do not contain any double bond and is

Biochemistry
surrounded by hydrogen atoms. On the other hand, the fatty acid chain of unsaturated fat
contains at least one double bond (monounsaturated) or more than one double bond
(polyunsaturated). Butter which has saturated fatty acid is more solid at room temperature and
the melting point in them increases with the increase in the length of the chain and thus they have
a lower setting temperature. In margarine, which is a source of unsaturated fat, the melting point
elevates with the increasing chain length, however, decreases with the degree of unsaturation (Li
et al., 2015). The main mechanism behind the properties found in fatty acids involve the length
of the fatty acid chain and the degree of the saturation. Unsaturated fatty acids are known to have
a lower melting point because of its chain length and thus, higher setting temperature. Double
bonds in them causes the hydrogen to bend and thus, the fatty acids are unable to compact or
remain tightly together that reduces the van-der-Walls interaction among the fatty acids.
Therefore, the longer the fatty acid chain length higher is the melting point (Li et al., 2015).

Biochemistry
References
Fritsche, K. L. (2015). The science of fatty acids and inflammation. Advances in Nutrition, 6(3),
293S-301S.
Li, Y., Hruby, A., Bernstein, A. M., Ley, S. H., Wang, D. D., Chiuve, S. E., ... & Hu, F. B.
(2015). Saturated fats compared with unsaturated fats and sources of carbohydrates in
relation to risk of coronary heart disease: a prospective cohort study. Journal of the
American College of Cardiology, 66(14), 1538-1548.
Liu, Q., Rossouw, J. E., Roberts, M. B., Liu, S., Johnson, K. C., Shikany, J. M., ... & Eaton, C.
B. (2017). Theoretical effects of substituting butter with margarine on risk of
cardiovascular disease. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 28(1), 145.
Pimpin, L., Wu, J. H., Haskelberg, H., Del Gobbo, L., & Mozaffarian, D. (2016). Is butter back?
A systematic review and meta-analysis of butter consumption and risk of cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, and total mortality. PloS one, 11(6).