Lever Brothers Company

Unilever Patent Holdings B.v.

Unichema Chemie B.v.

Unichem Chemie Bv

Alasdair Robin Macrae

Peter How

Christine Davies

John Anthony Bosley

Michael Herder Coleman

Ramires Rolando Poulina

John Casey

Richard E Moss

Tanja Brenkman

Peter J Halling

Gary MyCock

Aliphatic, saturated or unsaturated, straight or branched chain C2-C24 monocarboxylic acids and polyhydric alcohols, particularly glycerol are selectively reached to monoesters in the presence of an enzyme which comprises potato lipid acyl hydrolase. The process can be used too for upgrading technical monoglycerides which contain free fatty acids.

Enzymatic esterification process

Process for preparing fatty acid esters of alkyl glycosides

Process for the preparation of alkylglycoside esters

Process for the esterification of carboxylic acids with tertiary

The invention provides a process for preparing an ester from an alcohol and fatty acid (glyceride) by enzyme-catalyzed conversion, in which a fatty acid (glyceride) and alcohol are contacted with lipase and the alcohol is added at such a rate that the alcohol concentration in the reaction mixture is kept below a molar ratio of 0.5 moles of alcohol per mole of fatty acid/acyl group, preferably below 0.25. The alcohol is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alcohol, preferably a monohydric alcohol. The fatty acid is a C.sub.2 -C.sub.24 fatty acid, preferably a C.sub.10 -C.sub.24 fatty acid. Preferably, water of reaction is removed while esterification progresses.

Process for the preparation of esters

Organic compounds susceptible to hydrolysis are prepared by reaction in a water-immiscible organic liquid in contact with an enzyme activated with water to catalyze the reaction and desiccant means to lower the water activity of the dispersion from which the reaction products are recovered. The enzyme may be a lipase to catalyze an interesterification process and the desiccant means may be immersed in the dispersion to remove water in the liquid phase or in the headspace above the dispersion to remove water vapor.

Fat processing

In a continuous interesterification process a fatty acid ester reactant, preferably a glyceride and optionally including free fatty acid, is contacted with an enzyme as interesterification catalyst which is preferably 1,3-selective and precipitated on an inert particulate support. The catalyst is packed in a fixed bed with contact times less than 2 hours which are sufficient to effect interesterification. The process is useful for producing POSt- and StOSt-rich fats suitable for use as cocoa butter substitute fats.

Rearrangement process

In a continuous interesterification process a fatty acid ester reactant, preferably a glyceride and optionally including free fatty acid, is contacted with an enzyme as interesterification catalyst which is preferably 1,3-selective and precipitated on an inert particulate support. The catalyst is packed in a fixed bed with contact times less than 2 hours which are sufficient to effect interesterification. The process is useful for producing POSt- and StOSt-rich fats suitable for use as cocoabutter substitute fats.

A process for the interesterification of oils and fats comprising treating said oils and fats with water-soluble microbial lipase enzyme is disclosed.

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Bedford, United Kingdom

Alasdair Robin Macrae