Two-Step Enzymatic Synthesis of Structured Triacylglycerols from ARASCO<sup>©</sup> and Coconut Oil

Triacylglycerols containing medium-chain fatty acids at the <i>sn</i>-1,3 positions and a long-chain fatty acid at the <i>sn</i>-2 position (MLM-TAG) are of nutritional interest. However, they are scarce in common food sources and are usually synthesized by chemical or enzyma...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Miguel Ángel Rincón-Cervera, José Luis Guil-Guerrero
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/24/11576
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Summary:Triacylglycerols containing medium-chain fatty acids at the <i>sn</i>-1,3 positions and a long-chain fatty acid at the <i>sn</i>-2 position (MLM-TAG) are of nutritional interest. However, they are scarce in common food sources and are usually synthesized by chemical or enzymatic methods. In this work, the enzymatic synthesis of MLM-TAG was attempted using <i>sn</i>-2 monoacylglycerols (<i>sn</i>-2 MAG) from the ethanolysis of an arachidonic acid-rich fraction from ARASCO and fatty acid ethyl esters from the ethanolysis of coconut oil as substrates. The highest yield of <i>sn</i>-2 MAG (23.3 mol%) was obtained after 1 h of ethanolysis with Novozym 435 lipase at 25 °C, and the best profile of the ethanolysis products of coconut oil was obtained after 24 h of reaction catalyzed by the lipase from <i>Thermomyces lanuginosus</i>. Regarding the enzymatic synthesis of structured TAG, the lipase from <i>Rhizopus oryzae</i> gave better results than those from <i>Thermomyces lanuginosus</i> and <i>Rhizomucor miehei</i>, with the <i>sn</i>-2 position mainly esterified with arachidonic acid (34.8%) and the <i>sn</i>-1,3 positions mainly esterified with capric and lauric acids (35.1%). This work focuses on a simple process for the enzymatic production of structured TAG without prior purification of the <i>sn</i>-2 MAG.
ISSN:2076-3417