Lipid crystallization kinetics — roles of external factors influencing functionality of end products

•We focus on the effects of the following four external factors for applications.•Dynamic temperature variations influence the complicated polymorphic changes.•Template effect is caused by hydrophobic additives, inorganic, organic materials.•Shear effect increases the rates of crystallization and transformation of lipids.•W/O emulsion are increasingly used in food, cosmetics and other applications.

The extent of crystallization and transformation of lipids, and their network formation, play decisive roles in determining physical properties (e.g., hardness, texture, rheology, and spreadability) of lipid-based food products. In these products, the lipid materials are present in rather complicated physical states such as mixtures of solid and liquid lipids or emulsified with water phases. In addition, various external influences are applied during actual production in a factory. Therefore, exploration of lipid crystallization under multiple external influences is necessary to improve the functionality of lipid-based food products.