Thermal Degradation of Glycidyl Esters in Mono- and Mono-Di-Glyceride

Thermal treatment can be used to reduce content of glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE) in distilled monoglycerides and mono-di-glyceride products. The potential reduction of GE is temperature dependent, and low temperature (e.g. 80°C) can reduce GE to a lower level than higher temperatures. Reaching a level close to equilibrium can take weeks (at e.g. 80°), while it can be reached in hours at e.g. 150°C. The thermal treatment has, however, also negative impact on other quality parameters. The content of monoglyceride in both distilled monoglyceride and in mono-di-glycerides is also reduced during the thermal treatment. More at higher than at lower temperatures. These conclusions are built on 47 lab and pilot experiments using different mono- and mono-di-glycerides compositions (both in terms of glycerides and fatty acids), temperatures between 80°C and 200°C and starting levels of GE. A mathematical model was developed to analyse the experimental data.