title: Heterogeneous interesterification of triacylglycerols catalyzed by using potassium-doped alumina as a solid catalyst.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology , Zhengzhou 450001, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenlei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000032:analysis; D004951:Esterification; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013024:Soybean Oil / Q000737:chemistry*; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D014280:Triglycerides; D013024:Soybean Oil; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D011188:Potassium; C029310:lard
keywords: heterogeneous catalyst; interesterification; lard; soybean oil; triacylglycerol