ABSTRACT
Modern industrial food production requires surface-active as processing aids to facilitate uniform quality and ensure long shelf life of the finished products. A range of food grade emulsifiers based on edible fats and oils are available. Food emulsifiers are polar lipids needed to increase colloidal stability and provide interfacial interactions between food components such as lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. The main applications of mono-diglycerides in foods are typically in fat-based products, such as margarine, spreads and bakery fats, and cake mixes. Mono-diglycerides are added by way of the fat phase, often in combination with other more hydrophilic emulsifiers. Several emulsifiers are produced by esterification of polyvalent alcohols with fatty acids. The main fatty acids are palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids, but products with other fatty acids are available. Sucrose esters are a new generation of food emulsifiers made by esterification of sucrose with fatty acids.
