Heterogeneous Interesterification of Triacylglycerols Catalyzed by Using Potassium-Doped Alumina as a Solid Catalyst

Xie, Wenlei; Chen, Jing

Heterogeneous Interesterification of Triacylglycerols Catalyzed by Using Potassium-Doped Alumina as a Solid Catalyst

2014

Xie, Wenlei | Chen, Jing

Heterogeneous interesterification of vegetable oils offers an environmentally more attractive option for the modification of edible oils to meet the specifications for certain food applications. In this work, potassium-doped alumina (KNO3/Al2O3) was prepared using an impregnation method, followed by calcinations at a temperature of 700 °C, and was then employed as heterogeneous catalysts for the interesterification of triacylglycerols. The solid catalyst was characterized by means of Hammett titration method, power X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption techniques. It was determined that the catalyst with KNO3 loading of 35% on alumina support and calcined at 700 °C exhibited the best catalytic activities toward the interesterification between soybean oil and methyl stearate under solvent-free conditions. Also, the solid base catalyst was successfully applied to the interesterification of soybean oil and lard blends in a heterogeneous manner. The physicochemical properties of the interesterified products were investigated using gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. It was found that the slip melting point and crystal morphology had a significant variation after the interesterification reaction as a result of the modification in the TAG profile. With the solid base catalyst, an environmentally friendly approach for the interesterification of triacylglycerols in a heterogeneous manner was developed.

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