Erythritol‐Based Medium‐Chain Sugar Amphiphile: Synthesis and Gelling Capability in Edible Oils. Issue 9 (13th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pang, Min; Lei, Zheng; Zheng, Donglei; Shi, Zhaojuan; Ge, Yuanfei; Cheng, Jieshun; Jiang, Shaotong; Cao, Lili
• Is Part Of: European journal of lipid science and technology. Volume 122:Issue 9(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-08-13
• Subjects: erythritol -- molecular gelator -- organogels -- vegetable oil; Oils and fats, Edible -- Periodicals; Lipids -- Periodicals; 660.63
• DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.201900412
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1438-7697

Abstract

Abstract: The production of organogels from vegetable oils requires low‐molecular‐weight gelators. Herein, a novel small‐molecule sugar ester gelator is synthesized from erythritol and octanoic acid. The purified reaction product is identified as erythritol 1, 6‐dioctanoate by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with evaporative light‐scattering detection and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This low‐molecular‐weight erythritol ester exhibits self‐assembly behavior in vegetable oils with a minimum gelation concentration of 4 wt%. Microscopy reveals needle‐like crystals that became slender as the gelator concentration increases. X‐Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses indicate that the organogels are semicrystalline with both crystalline and amorphous domains. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals that the gel structure is maintained by non‐hydrogen‐bonding interactions. Furthermore, rheological tests show that the mechanical strength of the gel is poor, but as the gelator concentration is increased, the mechanical strength and hardness of the gel also increases. Thus, this erythritol ester effectively promotes the gelation of edible vegetable oils and increases the variety of available organogelators. Practical Applications : The synthesized erythritol ester is successfully applied as a gelator to produce organogels from a variety of vegetable oils, and are expected to advance the development of effective organogelators for edible oils. Abstract : The erythritol dioctanoate as the gel factor of edible oil, which is synthesized under the reaction of erythritol and n ‐octanoic acid. The gel factor forms needle‐like crystals in the edible oil, and the crystals aggregate with each other to form a structural network that can stabilize the liquid oil.