August 15, 2024 Mrzhao

Polyglycerol fatty acid ester is a green, safe and multi-functional non-ionic emulsifier, which has been approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), as well as by the European Union, the United States, Japan, and China for use as a food additive.

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters are produced by the reaction of fatty acids and their derivatives with polyglycerol, the raw materials come from natural renewable resources, and can be completely biodegradable. Due to its excellent emulsification, foaming, crystallization regulation and bacteriostatic properties, it is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries which are directly related to the national health, as well as other industrial fields.

The chemical structure and physicochemical properties of polyglycerol fatty acid esters are related to the polymerization degree of polyglycerol, fatty acid type and esterification degree, among which: the polymerization degree of polyglycerol is generally 2-10; the carbon chain length of fatty acid is generally 6-18, and the carbon chain can be saturated or unsaturated, and can also be a straight chain or with a branched chain; in addition, the degree of hydroxyl esterification can be mono-, di-, and polyesters, etc., so that a series of structurally diverse, different properties can be obtained. In addition, the degree of esterification of hydroxyl groups can be mono-, di- and polyesters, etc., which can lead to a series of polyglycerol fatty acid esters emulsifiers with various structures and properties to meet the needs of various applications.

Properties of polyglycerol fatty acid esters

1.Safety

In 1978, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (JECFA) established an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for polyglycerol fatty acid esters of 25 mg/(kg body mass).

In 2017, the safety of polyglycerol fatty acid esters as food additives was reassessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Food Additives Panel.

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters are almost completely hydrolyzed to polyglycerol and fatty acids in the gastrointestinal tract, and no adverse reactions to polyglycerol and fatty acids were observed in the available studies.

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters were also not observed to have side effects in short-term subchronic or chronic toxicity studies, with the highest doses tested being 9000 mg/(kg body mass) and 2500 mg/(kg body mass), respectively.

Based on the results of the available studies, no genotoxicity or reproductive toxicity was found for polyglycerol fatty acid esters. Therefore, the Panel considered that polyglycerol fatty acid esters as food additives did not pose safety problems at the current level and range of use and that there was no need to specify ADI values.

2. Surface Interface Properties

The fatty acid residues in the molecular structure of polyglycerol fatty acid esters are partly used as lipophilic groups, and the free hydroxyl groups on the polyglycerol skeleton are used as hydrophilic groups, which have excellent surface activity, and can significantly reduce the surface tension of the aqueous solution as well as the interfacial tension between oil and water, thus generating the properties of emulsification, foaming, and decontamination.

2.3 Emulsification

The emulsifying property of polyglycerol fatty acid ester is related to its hydrophile lipophilic balance (HLB value), according to the polymerization degree of polyglycerol, the length of fatty acid carbon chain and the esterification degree, its HLB value can be 2~16, it can be used as a hydrophilic emulsifier, also can be used as a lipophilic emulsifier.

2.4 Bacteria inhibition

In addition to excellent emulsifying properties, polyglycerol fatty acid esters also have strong bacteriostatic effect, can effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast and other fungi.

Application of polyglycerol fatty acid esters

1. Functional component encapsulation and delivery

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters have diverse structures, and due to the different degrees of glycerol polymerization, fatty acid carbon chain length and esterification, they have different properties, with a wide range of changes in HLB value, and can be used as both O/W-type emulsifiers and W/O-type emulsifiers, and can also form multiple emulsions.

Therefore, they have a broad application prospect in the encapsulation and delivery of drugs as well as functional ingredients in food and cosmetics. Polyglycerol fatty acid ester as emulsifier, medium carbon chain three fatty acid glycerol ester as oil phase, under the condition of ethanol, 1-propanol and other short-chain alcohols as co-surfactant, it can form stable micro-emulsion, which can be used for the encapsulation and delivery of protein drugs such as insulin.

2.Lipid crystallization regulation

Fats and oils have homogeneous polycrystalline phenomenon, that is, there are a variety of homogeneous polycrystalline type, different homogeneous polycrystalline body has different properties, the appropriate homogeneous polycrystalline body is very important for the processing of fats and oils. Polyglycerol fatty acid esters are rich in structure, and different polyglycerol fatty acid esters have different effects on the crystallization of fats and oils.Sakamoto et al. studied the effect of decaglycerol deca-behenate (HLB value 2.3) and decaglycerol hepta-behenate (HLB value 4.3) on the crystallization of palm oil, and the results showed that the palm oil crystals of the palm oils with the addition of 1% of polyglycerol behenate were smaller and the number of crystals was larger than the number of crystals in the oils without the addition of polyglycerol behenate, which were larger than those of the palm oils with polyglycerol behenate. The results showed that the palm oil crystals with 1% polyglycerol behenate were smaller, and the number of crystals was larger than the number of crystals of palm oil without polyglycerol fatty acid ester, which indicated that polyglycerol behenate could promote the formation of palm oil crystal nuclei but inhibit the growth of crystals.

3. Bread baking conditioner and softener

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters are used as dough conditioners and bread softeners in the bread making process, which can make bread fluffy and soft.Garti et al. found that polyglycerol fatty acid esters can increase the volume of bread, and the addition of polyglycerol laurate increased the volume of bread more than polyglycerol stearate and polyglycerol oleate.

Miyamoto et al. investigated the effect of six decameric polyglycerol monofatty acid esters with different carbon chain lengths on dough properties and baking. The addition of decaglycerol monofatty acid esters significantly increased the gas retention capacity of the leavened dough and the volume of the bread compared with fatty acid monoglycerides, but this effect weakened with increasing carbon chain length. Microscopic observation of the fermented doughs revealed that the gluten matrix thickened with the addition of decaglycerol monoglyceride fatty acid esters and that most of the starch granules were well covered by the gluten matrix. The results suggest that decaglycerol monofatty acid ester can be used as a dough conditioner to promote gluten formation and as a softener to prevent bread from becoming firm.

4.Foaming and foam stabilization

Foam generation and stabilization are important issues in the food industry. In many products, such as ice cream, bread and cakes, the generation of bubbles can obtain the desired texture and density. Polyglycerol fatty acid esters have excellent foaming and stabilizing properties that are rarely found in other food emulsifiers, and can produce a unique bubble organization that provides good aeration during food processing. For example, when it is used in yeast starter bakery products, it can effectively increase the baking area, thus effectively improving the quality of bakery products. Polyglycerol fatty acid esters compounded with fatty acid monoglycerides have excellent foaming and foam stability, and have broad application prospects in the food industry, especially in bakery products.

Summary and Prospect

Polyglycerol fatty acid esters are of natural origin, good biodegradability, high safety, and have the advantages of variety, multifunctionality and adjustable properties, which can meet the needs of a variety of applications, with a wide range of applications, and are in line with the development trend of food emulsifiers being green, safe and functionalized, and have a broad application prospect.

At present, the industrial production of polyglycerol fatty acid ester mainly adopts the traditional chemical synthesis process with inorganic alkali as the catalyst, which has the shortcomings of high energy consumption, high pollution, poor product quality, etc., and can no longer meet the requirements of sustainable development. The green synthesis process based on solid catalysts, ionic liquids and lipases is still in the laboratory research stage, and the key technical problems related to industrialization have yet to be solved.

The structure of polyglycerol fatty acid esters is rich in variations, and the research on their structural relationship and application of basic properties is not deep enough and comprehensive. The basic theories related to the properties and applications of polyglycerol fatty acid esters are not clear enough, such as emulsion stabilization mechanism, foam stabilization mechanism, bacteriostatic mechanism and its interaction mechanism with starch, protein and other food components need to be further investigated in depth, in order to provide theoretical support for the application of polyglycerol fatty acid esters in the fields of food, cosmetics, medicine and other fields.

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