Sucrose fatty acid esterOdorless, tasteless, and non-toxic. They are excellent food emulsifiers. According to the national food additive hygiene standards (GB2760-1996), sucrose fatty acid esters can be used in meat products, sausages, emulsified flavors, fruit and egg preservation, ice cream, candies, and bread, at 1.5g/kg; emulsifying natural pigments, 10.0g/kg.

The synthesis of sucrose fatty acid esters typically includes solvent-free methods, solvent methods, and microbial methods. Currently, common solvents for synthesizing sucrose fatty acid esters, apart from dimethylformamide (DMF), include dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), xylene, propylene glycol, and water. The solvent-free method refers to directly using sucrose, fatty acid methyl esters, and sodium soap for the ester exchange reaction without any solvent. The solvent-free method can be divided into melting, co-solvent, and heterogeneous methods. With the development of biotechnology, it has been found that microorganisms such as Rhizopus, Enterobacter, Aspergillus, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium, Myxobacteria, and Penicillium lipase can catalyze the reaction between sucrose and fatty acids to produce sucrose esters.

The usage amount of sucrose fatty acid esters is as follows:

1. The degree of esterification of sucrose fatty acid esters affects their hydrophilicity and lipophilicity balance value (HLB).

2. For specific purposes, sucrose esters are usually mixed with a small amount of water (or oil, ether, etc.) to wet them, and then the required amount of water (oil, ethanol, etc.) is added, with appropriate heating to fully dissolve and disperse the sucrose esters.

3. The HLB value of sucrose esters can be adjusted by the content of monoesters, diesters, and triesters. They have a wide range of applications and can be used in almost all high-fat foods. Specific applications are as follows:

(1) It can be used in meat products and fish paste products to improve the moisture content and texture of the products. The dosage is 0.3%-1% (HLB 1-16).

(2) In baked goods, it can increase the toughness of the dough, increase the volume of the product, make the pores fine and uniform, and keep the texture soft, preventing aging. The dosage is 0.2%-0.5% of the flour.

(3) In cookies and cakes, it can stabilize emulsified fats, prevent sedimentation, and improve product quality. The dosage is 0.1%-0.5% (HLB 7).

(4) In chocolate, it can prevent crystallization and frosting. The dosage is 0.2%-1.0% (HLB value: 3-9).

(5) It is used in bubble gum to make it easy to knead, improve chewiness, flavor, and softness. The addition amount is 0.1%-0.2% of the gum base (HLB value 5-11).

(6) For ice cream, it increases emulsification and dispersion, improves specific volume, and enhances thermal stability, moldability, and mouthfeel. For lubricants, 1.0%-10%.

(7) Used in condensed milk and whipped cream to stabilize emulsions, prevent moisture separation, and enhance the expansion power of cream. The dosage is 0.1%-0.5% (HLB 1-16).

(8) In margarine, it can improve the compatibility of butter and water and effectively prevent splashing. The dosage is 0.1%-0.5% (HLB 1-3).

(9) For emulsified flavors and solid flavors. It is suitable for stabilizing emulsions of lemon oil, orange oil, and grape oil to prevent the loss of spices in the product. The dosage is 0.05%-0.2% (HLB 7-16).

(10) For coating preservation of birds, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. It has antibacterial properties, keeps fruits and vegetables fresh, and extends shelf life. The dosage is 0.3%-2.5% (HLB 5-16).

In addition, it can also be used in soy milk, frozen foods, sauces, beverages, rice, noodles, instant noodles, dumplings, etc. Due to the synergistic effect of emulsifiers, using sucrose fatty acid esters alone is far less effective than using them in combination with other emulsifiers; proper blending results in better emulsification.