Physicochemical properties of enzymatically synthesised medium-chain triacylglycerols-based enhancer cream

Abstract

Structured lipids (SLs) containing medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) were produced by lipase catalysed acidolysis of both octanoic acid and the virgin coconut oil (VCO). The production of SLs, namely structured virgin coconut oil (SVCO), was previously optimised using the central composite design (CCD) based on the percentage of octanoic acid incorporated in the reaction products. The fatty acids and triacylglycerols composition and their corresponding rheological properties of the formulated SVCO incorporated α-tocopherol cream were also determined. The parameters that were suggested for the highest incorporation of octanoic acid (68.07%) are octanoic acid to VCO ratio of 1.70 (w/w); an enzyme load of 22.60%; at 63.4°C; a water content of 3.53%; and at 96 h. The amount of octanoic acid (carbon-8), the medium-chain fatty acids present in the structured lipid after enzymatic esterification was increased to 60.1% as compared to the natural VCO with only contains 5.45%. Based on the calculated equivalent carbon number (ECN), the most probable MCTs found in the SVCO were CpCpCp, CpCCp, and CpLaCp. Based on the rheological analysis, the SVCO creams were less viscoelastic as compared to the VCO. It shows that the decrease of the saturated fatty acids composition (carbon-12, 14, and 16) in the SVCO creams had significantly decreased the elasticity of the cream.