(Press-News.org) MAGs, predominantly in 1(3)-MAG form, and DAGs, with 1,3-DAGs as the more stable isomer, are crucial in food, cosmetic, and other industries. While MAGs are vital emulsifiers, comprising 75% of global production, DAGs are known as functional cooking oils that can reduce body fat and serum TAGs. However, their natural concentration in oils is low, prompting extensive research into their chemical and environmentally-friendly enzymatic production.
Recently, a review published in the Grain & Oil Science and Technology journal on 2 November 2023, has shed light on the advancements in enzymatic production methods with special efforts on practical and industrial technologies such as comprehensive discussions on system designs and patent evaluations. This study presents these methods as a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional chemical processes, emphasizing their role in revolutionizing industry standards.
This review presents an in-depth review of the last 15 years in enzymatic production of monoacylglycerols (MAGs) and diacylglycerols (DAGs), focusing on the advancements and varied pathways like esterification, glycerolysis, and more. It emphasizes how enzyme choice, substrates, and conditions affect the efficiency and quality of MAGs and DAGs, highlighting the role of reaction media in enhancing reaction homogeneity and product yield. The review also explores the practicalities of scaling enzymatic processes for industrial use, discussing the challenges of maintaining enzyme activity and the economic implications of enzyme use. Additionally, it evaluates numerous patents, reflecting a growing interest in this eco-friendly technology. The review underlines the transformative potential of enzymatic production in delivering higher quality, more sustainable MAGs and DAGs while acknowledging the ongoing challenges and the need for further innovation in this field.
The review's lead authors, Jiawei Zheng and colleagues, underscore the industry's increasing shift towards enzymatic processes over the past two decades. They note, "Enzymatic methods are not just alternatives but are becoming the standard due to their specificity, lower energy requirements, and ability to preserve sensitive components."
Transitioning to enzymatic production has vast implications for the food industry, offering safer and more sustainable emulsifiers and cooking oils. The ability to control reaction specifics leads to higher quality products, meeting consumer demands for healthier and more natural food ingredients. From the discussion of the practical considerations of technologies and potential possibilities, the reasonable economy for the production in plants can be expected.
The review anticipates further industry adoption and innovation in enzyme technologies. However, it also calls for continued research to overcome challenges like reaction efficiency and large-scale application, ensuring that enzymatic methods can fully meet global demand.
Reference
Funding information
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (31772000).
DOI
10.1016/j.gaost.2023.10.002
Original Url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaost.2023.10.002
About Grain & Oil Science and Technology
Grain & Oil Science and Technology (GOST, https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/grain-and-oil-science-and-technology) is a peer-reviewed Open Access (OA) journal and upon acceptance all articles are permanently and freely available on ScienceDirect. GOST publishes innovative papers in the fields of grain engineering (processing and storage of staple food grain and cereals), food science and engineering (food chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, nutrition, food safety), oil science and engineering (processing and storage of oils and fats, oil chemistry for food use). Contributions written in English in the form of critical reviews, research papers, short communications, short reviews are welcomed.
END
Greener and feasible production: Enzymatic methods for mono- and diacylglycerol synthesis in the food industry
2024-01-03
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Re-calibrating the sail plan for Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders in ocean sciences
2024-01-03
In Hawaiʻi and across much of Oceania, Pacific Islanders celebrate the connections between their islands and the ocean that surrounds them. “As descendants of the ocean, the dearth of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) in ocean science seems inconsonant,” writes a team of authors that includes University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa faculty, students, and alumni in an article in a special issue of the journal Oceanography, “Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Ocean Sciences. The authors ask, “Where are all our island people in the ...
Monetized evaluation of landscape resources of national parks based on the willingness to pay of multiple interest groups
2024-01-03
In China, national parks represent the country’s most unique natural landscapes. Scientific evaluation of landscape resources is significant for preserving the authenticity and integrity of national parks. Taking Qianjiangyuan National Park System Pilot Zone as an example, this research investigated the willingness of internal group (residents and administrative staff) and external group (tourists) to pay for a hypothetical market project based on the pilot zone via Contingent Valuation Method to acquire the monetized value of landscape resources in the national park, and applied Logistic Regression to analyze the influencing factors. The results show ...
How big data transforms the insurance sector
2024-01-03
In 2022, the insurance industry made a whopping USD 6 trillion globally—more than the entire economy of big countries like Japan and Germany. A new study, published in The Journal of Finance and Data Science, looked at how technology, especially big data, is shaking things up in insurance. Big data means using a lot of information to make better decisions.
The study found that by using big data, insurance companies can understand risks better, offer fair prices and keep customers happier.
“What's surprising is how fast insurance companies are jumping on the big data bandwagon,” says first ...
Deep learning for phase recovery
2024-01-03
Light, as an electromagnetic field, has two essential components: amplitude and phase. However, optical detectors, usually relying on photon-to-electron conversion (such as charge-coupled device sensors and the human eye), cannot capture the phase of the light field because of their limited sampling frequency. Fortunately, as the light field propagates, the phase delay also causes changes in the amplitude distribution; therefore, we can record the amplitude of the propagated light field and then calculate the corresponding phase, called phase recovery. Some common phase ...
Chicken whisperers: humans crack the clucking code
2024-01-03
A University of Queensland-led study has found humans can tell if chickens are excited or displeased, just by the sound of their clucks.
Professor Joerg Henning from UQ’s School of Veterinary Science said researchers investigated whether humans could correctly identify the context of calls or clucking sounds made by domestic chickens, the most commonly farmed species in the world.
“In this study, we used recordings of chickens vocalising in all different scenarios from a previous experiment,” ...
Newly discovered genetic mutation protects against Parkinson’s disease and offers hope for new therapies
2024-01-03
A previously unidentified genetic mutation in a small protein provides significant protection against Parkinson’s disease and offers a new direction for exploring potential treatments, according to a new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology study.
The variant, located in a mitochondrial microprotein dubbed SHLP2, was found to be highly protective against Parkinson’s disease; individuals with this mutation are half as likely to develop the disease as those who do not carry it. The variant form of the protein is relatively rare and is found primarily in people of European descent.
The findings appear on January 3, 2024, in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
First ...
First dive survey of Lake Tahoe’s lakebed finds high amounts of plastic and other litter
2024-01-03
Plastic litter is a growing problem around the world, and new research shows that the bottom of Lake Tahoe is no exception. In one of the first studies to utilize scuba divers to collect litter from a lakebed, 673 plastic items were counted from just a small fraction of the lake.
In the study, published in the November issue of the journal Applied Spectroscopy, researchers from DRI and the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center teamed up with the nonprofit Clean Up the Lake to take a close look at the litter. First, ...
Study on extremely preterm infants provides important healthcare knowledge
2024-01-03
Infants born extremely prematurely need to get enrichment as an addition to breast milk. But does it make any difference whether the enrichment is made from breast milk or cow’s milk when it comes to the risk of severe complications in children? This has been investigated by a large clinical study led from Linköping, Sweden.
Infants born extremely prematurely, between weeks 22 and 27 of pregnancy, are among the most vulnerable patients in healthcare. The risk of serious complications is very high. Almost one in four extremely premature babies die before the age of one.
There is strong research support for giving breast ...
New research shows “Juvenile T. rex” fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur
2024-01-03
A new analysis of fossils believed to be juveniles of T. rex now shows they were adults of a small tyrannosaur, with narrower jaws, longer legs, and bigger arms than T. rex. The species, Nanotyrannus lancensis, was first named decades ago but later reinterpreted as a young T. rex.
The first skull of Nanotyrannus was found in Montana in 1942, but for decades, paleontologists have gone back and forth on whether it was a separate species, or simply a juvenile of the much larger T. rex.
Dr Nick Longrich, from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University ...
Using electricity, scientists find promising new method of boosting chemical reactions
2024-01-02
As the world moves away from gas towards electricity as a greener power source, the to-do list goes beyond cars. The vast global manufacturing network that makes everything from our batteries to our fertilizers needs to flip the switch, too.
A study from UChicago chemists found a way to use electricity to boost a type of chemical reaction often used in synthesizing new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs.
Published Jan. 2 in Nature Catalysis, the research is an advance in the field of electrochemistry and shows a path forward to designing ...