Food Lipids: Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biotechnology

Figure 17 Structure of trialkoxyglyceryl ether.
is not used to drive the reaction to the right (product formation). TATCA can replace
vegetable oil in cooking and spreadable products such as margarine and mayonnaise.
There are problems associated with the consumption of polycarboxylic acid esters.
For example, in rat feeding experiments, anal leakage, weakness, depression, and
death were observed when TATCA and jojoba oil were fed at moderate to high dose
levels (1–3 g) (16). Weight gain data in rats indicated that both jojoba oil and TATCA
are lower in calorie value than corn oil.
J. Polyglycerol Esters
The process for preparation and purification of polyglycerol and polyglycerol esters
was described by Babayan (42,43). Esterification of glycerin with long chain fatty
acids reduces absorption by 31 to 39% compared to corn oil, which is 98% absorbed.
As the molecular weight of the polyglycerin portion increases, the hydrophilicity of
the molecule also increases. But as the fatty acid chain length increases, hydrophilicity
decreases. It was reported that male rats consuming 1 g/day of polyglycerol
esters experienced weight gain comparable to that of rats fed lard. There were no
abnormalities, except that diarrhea was observed in rats fed polyglycerol esters. Presently,
polyglycerol esters are used as emulsifiers and dietetic acids such as in Weight
Watchers ice cream. They can also be used in shortenings, margarines, bakery products,
frozen desserts, ice cream, and confectioneries. The structure of a polyglycerol
ester is shown in Figure 18.
K. Polysiloxane
Polysiloxane (PS) and phenylmethylpolysiloxane (a substituted polysiloxane) are organic
derivatives of silica (SiO2) with a linear polymeric structure (Fig. 19). The
Figure 18 Structure of a polyglycerol ester.
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