Directed Interesterification of Coconut Oil to Produce Structured Lipid

Structured lipid is triglycerides composed of medium chain saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. Coconut oil contains adequate amounts of medium chain and unsaturated fatty acids. The objective of this research is to evaluate a new method of producing structured lipid directly from coconut oil through directed interesterification in a solvent at three successively decreasing temperatures. The tested solvents are cellosolve and acetone. The results of the research showed that the new method is indeed effective and acetone is the better solvent. Three stages directed interesterification of coconut oil in acetone solvent could deliver around 24% of structured lipid.