Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids are nonionic surfactants, which are broadly used for the food, cosmetic and the other industries. However, general commercial products are mixtures of many different components. That is, glyceroles with varying polymerization degree from glycerol to higher condensates of glycerol, are combined into fatty acids with different chain lengths. Furthermore, the estrification degree is changeable. Aqueous solutions of homogeneous polyglycerol monolaurates, which were synthesized in laboratory, were examined for surface tension, foaming property, interfacial tension, detergency, immersion wetting and solubility ability. Despite the low degree of glycerol polymerization, the interfacial activity of triglycerol monolaurate was the best, because the hydrophilic and lipophilic parts might be well balanced. On the other hand, highly refined polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, which are made from pentaglycerol with more than 60% purity have been already commercialized. Physicochemical properties of these esters were shown to be superior by various tests. Highly refined polyglycerol esters of fatty acids are applied to foods broadly. I described two examples of the application. The first is the micro-emulsion preparation, called“SuperEmulsion”. The second is“TAISET”, which can be used to improve the physical properties of oils and fats, that is, induce solidification or viscosity increase of oils and fats as well as control the size of emulsified oil droplets.
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