Synthesis and Characterization of Mixed Short Chain Fatty Acid Triacylglycerols as a Potential Dietary Food Lipid Source

Ronald P. D’Amelia^1, , Alexander E. Bleich¹, Lee Honig¹ and William F. Nirode¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA

Cite this paper:
Ronald P. D’Amelia, Alexander E. Bleich, Lee Honig and William F. Nirode. Synthesis and Characterization of Mixed Short Chain Fatty Acid Triacylglycerols as a Potential Dietary Food Lipid Source. American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2014; 2(6):175-178. doi: 10.12691/ajfst-2-6-1

Abstract

SCFA(Short Chain Fatty Acids) are readily absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and play an important role in the maintenance of gut health. The deficiency of SCFA (particularly acetic, propionic and butyric) may affect the pathogenesis of a diverse range of diseases ranging from allergies to asthma to cancers. The potential of having three different SCFA on one molecule for direct ingestion and metabolism can be of significant importance to maintaining gut health. SCFA triglycerides have not been characterized for use in clinical nutrition therefore it is important to understand their specific structure and composition. We synthesized ten reaction products of various triacylglycerols containing different ratios of acetic, propionic and butyric SCFA by interesterification. The reaction products were characterized by Gas Chromatography (GC), GC/MS and H¹ NMR. The weight % of the triesters found were compared to the amount predicted using the statistical randomized interesterification reaction model. We found that the difference in fatty acid size and the reduced steric demands of the SCFA did not give rise to positional specificity and found no observable deviations from the random interesterification model. By interesterification we have synthesized a molecule that contains SCFA essential to gut health. This molecule could potentially be used for direct ingestion possibly eliminating the need for other means of daily fiber intake.

Keywords:
interesterification triacylglycerols triglycerides short chain fatty acids ester-exchange randomization theory

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