• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.1443-1459
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• 2019

Polyglycerol fatty acid ester nonionic surfactants have been used for a long time in foods and have been suggested as an alternative to the safety problems of PEG based nonionic surfactants. The polyglycerol fatty acid ester surfactants are synthesized by combining a hydrophilic polyglycerin and a lipophilic fatty acid. The hydrophilic polyglycerin is polymerized using glycerin, glycidol, epichlorohydrin, etc. The main issues of the polyglycerol polymerization reaction are to increase the content of the polyglycerol in the form of linear rather than branched or cyclic forms and to narrow the distribution of the degree of polymerization. The method of binding a lipophilic fatty acid group to a hydrophilic polyglycerin includes chemical synthesis such as esterification reaction and enzyme synthesis using lipase enzyme. The main issues of polyglycerin fatty acid ester synthesis are to increase the yield and to control the degree of esterification while reducing side reactions.