Sucrose fatty acid esters are food emulsifiers (E473). A range of industrial blends, from water-in-oil to oil-in-water emulsifiers, is commercially available. How sucrose esters have been classified depending on the composition of the blend? How does it relate with the “Hydrophile Lipophile Balance” or “HLB” concept?
In the context of developing green chemistry methods, we set up a homogenous process for the synthesis of sucrose esters without any solvent. It provides sucrose monoesters in high yield and with a low yield of by-products.