Natural sucrose esters: Perspectives on the chemical and physiological use of an under investigated chemical class of compounds

The present review describes the chemistry and physiological properties of the sucrose esters (SEs) obtained from natural or synthetic pathways, with emphasis on those that have aliphatic and phenylpropanoid substituents on their sucrose moiety. Synthesis, extraction and characterization methods for the SEs and NSEs are discussed in terms of synthetic procedures, separation techniques and spectroscopic methods. The physiological properties are discussed taking into account the nature of the substituent groups and their regiochemistry (position and number of substitutions) on the sucrose moiety. [Display omitted] •Bioactive natural sucrose esters (NSEs) isolated from eleven genera are described.•Biological activities of NSEs are close related with substitution degree and chemical structure of the acid substituent.•The low concentration of NSEs demands the development of new synthetic routes.•Phenylpropanoid and aliphatic NSEs showed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties in vitro and in vivo.