Progress in Synthesis of Monoglycerides for Use in Food and Pharmaceuticals

Abstract

Glycerides are lipid esters of the glycerol molecule and fatty acids. Their primary function is the storage of energy. Due to its structure and properties, glycerol participates in the formulation or synthesis of many compounds such as food products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, liquid detergents. Monoglycerides (MGs) can be formed by both industrial chemical glycerolysis and biological or enzymatic processes. Chemical glycerolysis bring issues of low MGs yield, high operating temperature, formation of undesirable by-products and high energy consumption. On the other hand enzymatic processes have advantages of mild reaction conditions and high purity of MGs. But, several purification steps are required to obtain food or pharmaceutical grade MG, such as neutralization of the reaction media and discoloration followed by expensive molecular distillation. The purpose of this article is to review the main challenges in the synthesis of MGs from triglycerides (TGs) contained in the various fixed oils and application thereof in the food and pharmaceuticals.

Cocoa olein glycerolysis with lipase <em>Candida antarctica</em> in a solvent free system

“…These molecules are used as anionic surfactants, emulsifiers and stabilizers (E471) (Camino Feltes et al, 2013) for the food industry (bakery products, dairy products, and other products that may contain milk or flour) as well as for the textile industry and the plastic and biolubricant industry (formulations of oils for use in different types of machinery). They have proven to be so versatile that MAG has even shown to have antimicrobial activity (Ramesh et al, 2017). Their production, using both chemical and enzymatic reactions, can reach 90% yields when carried out in organic solvents (hexane, toluene, chloroform, acetone, etc).…”

“…The final product resulting from the reaction under these conditions usually has the following composition: MAG 30-60%, DAG 35-50% and TAG 1-20%, with certain residual acidity. Thus, in order to achieve a concentration of over 80% MAG and DAG in the final product, a further process of molecular distillation is needed (Ramesh et al, 2017;. Consequently, the current industrially implemented processes of chemical glycerolysis tend to entail costly energy demands and have additional drawbacks, such as raw material degradation and darkening of the desired product due to the use of very aggressive catalysts.…”

Investigation on the Effect of Monoglyceride Concentration on Palm Oil Based Alkyd Resin Preparation

“…The reported reaction temperature is around 240°C. The conversion in the first step, after the alcoholysis, the reaction products usually contain 40%-60% monoglyceride (Rarokar et al, 2017). This monoglyceride (MG) is required to homogenise the reaction medium which is a favourable condition for the second step, polyesterification.…”

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of the New 3-((2,3-Diacetoxypropanoyl)oxy)propane-1,2-diyl Diacetate Using Immobilized Lipase B from Candida antarctica and Pyridinium Chlorochromate as an Oxidizing Agent

“…A well-known process for the transformation of glycerol is its esterification or transesterification to monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides [ 10 , 11 ], molecules that exhibit high nutritional value [ 12 ], and are extensively used as emulsifiers in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries [ 13 ]. At an industrial scale, glycerides are generally prepared using inorganic acid or basic catalysts at high temperatures [ 14 ] or by enzyme-catalyzed [ 15 ] reactions, such as alcoholysis, glycerolysis, and hydrolysis [ 16 ], which, unlike chemical methods, can afford glycerides with high yields and selectivity under mild conditions in the absence of by-products [ 17 , 18 ].…”