Assessment of lipase- and chemically catalyzed lipid modification strategies for the production of structured lipids

The purpose of the present study was to devise a two‐step reaction to produce partial glycerides, which would subsequently be used as substrates in both lipase‐catalyzed and chemically catalyzed esterification reactions with caprylic acid. The yields and kinetics of these two‐step reactions were compared to established lipase‐catalyzed acidolysis and transesterification as well as to chemical transesterification reactions. Acyl migration did not occur during the hydrolysis or short‐path distillation steps in the preparation of free fatty acid‐free partial glycerides for esterification reactions. No significant differences in final yields (59.9% to 82.8% w/w of total triacylglycerols) of new structured lipids were detected among lipase‐catalyzed (24 h) and chemically catalyzed (5 h) reactions; however, the yield of new structured triacylglycerols (TAG) after 2 h was lower for acidolysis than for the other lipase‐catalyzed reactions (P≤0.05). Since no differences in final yields were detected among the reactions, chemical esterification using hydrolyzed oil could represent the best synthetic option, since it offers the advantage of positional distribution control associated with lipase‐catalyzed reactions as well as rapid reaction times associated with chemically catalyzed reactions. Attempts to evaluate the positional distribution of caprylic acid using allyl magnesium bromide (Grignard reagent) were hampered by production of unknown species, which prevented accurate determination of the concentration of some key fatty acids.