Currently, in the countrySucrose fatty acid esterThe main production enterprises include companies like Gaotong Food Technology, with a total production capacity of about 20,000 tons. Sucrose fatty acid ester is a non-ionic surfactant. It is a substance or mixture formed by the esterification of sucrose and fatty acids. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, and has good surface properties. It is widely used in industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, daily chemicals, bioengineering enzyme preparations, petroleum extraction, textiles, and agriculture. Sucrose fatty acid ester has a wide range of applications and benefits from the development of downstream industries, which have good development prospects.

Currently, most industrial methods are ester exchange methods, which can be divided into solvent methods, microemulsion methods, and solvent-free methods. The solvents required for solvent production are expensive, flammable, and toxic, and the products are difficult to purify, so this process has certain limitations; the microemulsion method replaces solvents with water, has low yield, and deep color; the solvent-free method does not use any solvents, directly adding raw materials, catalysts, and surfactants. It has the advantage of being environmentally friendly, but also has the disadvantages of high surfactant usage and low yield.

The sucrose fatty acid esters produced by the above processes are mostly crude products, containing impurities such as sucrose, potassium fatty acids, and fatty acids, which cannot meet the needs of high-end fields. If high-purity sucrose ester products are not obtained, crude products still need to be purified. Supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning, as a new purification process, has the advantages of simple operation and environmental protection and energy saving. However, there are still defects in industrial applications, and it has not been widely used.

Sucrose fatty acid esters are mainly used in the food processing field as anti-aging agents, anti-dehydration agents, dispersants, foaming agents, lubricants, emulsifiers, solvents, and fat substitutes, with high application value. Currently, sucrose fatty acid esters in China are mainly used in the food processing field, while the demand in pharmaceuticals, daily chemicals, and feed is relatively low, leaving significant room for future development.

Sucrose fatty acid esters are not only non-toxic but also have strong biodegradability, so the application requirements in food processing are high. In the future, with the optimization of the quality of domestic sucrose fatty acid esters, they will be applied in pharmaceuticals, daily chemicals, and other fields, and market demand will continue to rise. In terms of production, the production technology of sucrose fatty acid esters in China is lagging, with low product purity and yield, leading to high production costs, which restricts the development of the industry. There are relatively few companies producing sucrose fatty acid esters domestically, with low production capacity and a relatively concentrated market.

Classification of emulsifiers:

1. According to their hydrophilicity and lipophilicity, they can be divided into hydrophilic emulsifiers and lipophilic emulsifiers.

Hydrophilic emulsifiers generally refer to emulsifiers with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value above 9, which easily form water-in-oil emulsions, such as the Tween series, low-esterified sucrose esters, and polyglycerol triglyceride emulsifiers; lipophilic emulsifiers generally refer to emulsifiers with an HLB value of 3-6, which easily form oil-in-water emulsions, such as sorbitan emulsifiers and glycerol fatty acid emulsifiers.

2. According to their source, they can be divided into natural emulsifiers and synthetic emulsifiers.

Phospholipid emulsifiers are natural emulsifiers, while synthetic emulsifiers include sucrose fatty acid esters and sorbitan esters.

3. According to their dosage, they can be divided into ionic emulsifiers and non-ionic emulsifiers.

Ionic emulsifiers are further divided into anionic emulsifiers, cationic emulsifiers, and emulsifiers, such as calcium (sodium) stearate, potassium stearate, diacetyl tartaric acid monoglyceride, diacetyl tartaric acid as anionic emulsifiers, phosphate emulsifiers as cationic emulsifiers, and lecithin as emulsifiers.