Polyglycerol fatty acid ester (PGFE) has good properties of emulsification, dispersion, wetting, stability, foaming. It is a kind of safe and environmental friendly excellent surfactant. Its biggest characteristic is that it is quite stable under acidic conditions, but also has good heat stability, not easy to hydrolytic, with a wide range of HLB values, can be widely used in many fields.
Food industry
1. Used as food emulsifier
Food emulsifier is the most important application field of polyglycerol fatty acid ester. It can be used as emulsifier for water-in-oil type (W/O), water-in-oil type (O/W) and double-emulsified type (O/W/O, W/O/W) emulsion. Oil-in-water type (W/O) : Polyglycerol fatty acid ester with HLB value ≤6 can be used as oil-in-water emulsifying agent with good emulsifying performance and can be used in the production of butter, shortening, etc. Compared with other food emulsifiers, PGFE has higher emulsifying power and good heat resistance. In the process of application, it can be used alone or mixed with fatty acid sucrose ester to obtain higher stability, foaming ability and type preservation. Water-in-oil type (O/W) : Hydrophilic polyglycerol fatty acid ester with HLB value ≥7 can be used as water-in-oil emulsifier to form an emulsion with good salt and acid resistance. Under the condition of low PH value and high salt content, its emulsification and stability are still good, and it is an important emulsifier for the production of coconut milk and milk. Double emulsion type (O/W/O, W/O/W) : W/O/W emulsion is formed by dispersing W/O emulsion in water. During the adjustment, the highly oleophilic polyglycerol fatty acid esters can be used. Compared with the usual emulsifiers, it has the advantages of less amount and high stability. Nowadays, people pay more attention to the application of double emulsification technology. Due to the successful development of polyglycolate, especially the strong W/O emulsification ability of polyglycerol fatty acid ester, it is possible to promote and apply double emulsification technology in food industry. In addition, polyglycerol fatty acid ester can also be used in O/W/O type emulsion, using this double emulsion technology to produce food such as ice cream, margarine, mayonnaise, drinks.
2. Used as a crystallization regulator
PGFE has the effect of crystallization inhibition or crystallization promotion due to its different structure. Selecting a certain PGFE can adjust the crystallization rate, improve the emulsification performance, reduce the crystal size, and thus improve the gloss. For example, during the production and storage of chocolate, the oil and sugar crystallize due to the temperature change, which affects the appearance of the product. Adding PGFE to chocolate can increase the stability of chocolate, prevent oil and sugar from precipitation and frost, and improve the appearance.
3. Used as viscosity modifier
PGFE in the food industry has often been used as a viscosity regulator, such as chocolate, cocoa powder, milk powder and sugar, these ingredients character difference is very big, bad compatibility between each other, thus poor dispersion, PGFE can improve the dispersion of these ingredients, to form a smooth organization structure, decrease of the friction between the oil and sucrose, etc, so it is chocolate relative strengthening of liquidity, thus reduce viscosity.
4. Used as an antibacterial and preservative
PGFE have good antibacterial effect, different structure of PGFE, have different bacteriostatic pertinence, especially short chain length (C8 ~ 12) polyglycerol fatty acid ester, against bacteria, mold and yeast has strong antimicrobial effect, plus they are non-toxic, edible characteristics, very suitable for as antibacterial agent used for food.
Daily chemical industry
1. detergent
Although the detergency of PGFE is not as good as that of ionic surfactant, compared with other kinds of non-ionic surfactant, its performance is relatively better, and it has the characteristics of non-toxic side effects and harmless to human body, so it is very suitable to be applied in the detergent formula of tableutensils, fruits and vegetables, etc. At the same time its performance is mild, the stimulation to the skin is small, suit to apply in the human body catharsis things such as high-grade bath dew, shampoo. It has good compatibility with other surfactants and can greatly improve the washing efficiency.
2. Cosmetics
Due to its excellent emulsifying properties and mild skin contact properties, PGFE is very suitable for cosmetics, especially latex and cream formulations. PGFE and other types of surfactant compound with good performance, can be made into many kinds of special efficacy of emulsifying agent applied to cosmetics production formula, according to the theory of "three phase emulsification or gel network theory", it can be a cambium-like type liquid crystal in the system of the gel network structure, and makes the emulsion has excellent stability. At the same time, it also has a very good moisturizing performance, can protect the skin moisture. In addition, its mild performance, small irritation to the skin, is very suitable for the application of cosmetic formula, especially for baby products.
Medical industry
PGFE has good acid resistance, salt resistance, high temperature resistance and other excellent properties. It is used as emulsifier, dispersing agent and permeating agent in medicine and used as emulsifier in ointment, tablet, oral liquid and injection. At the same time, it also has the effect of resisting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and lowering cholesterol. It can be combined with the medicinal ingredients to improve the efficacy, which is very suitable for the production of medical products.
Other applications
1. The material industry is another important application field of PGFE. The addition of polyglycerol fatty acid ester can improve the plasticity of materials and facilitate the formation of materials. At the same time, in the field of material additives, it can be applied to antifogging agent. Polyglycerol fatty acid ester antifogging agent has many advantages, such as good antifogging effect in the initial stage and long duration. Polyglycerol fatty acid ester is used in the production of drip - free PVC agricultural film, which can produce permanent anti - fog film.
2. In light industrial textile industry, It can also be used as fiber softener, antistatic agent, with heat resistance, lubrication and other multiple properties.
3. In the petroleum industry, it is often used in the oil processing of lubricating oil, synthetic oil.
4. In addition, it is widely used in agricultural chemicals. For example, it is often used as a dispersant and emulsifier for pesticides and insecticides due to its excellent emulsifying performance, acid and alkali resistance.
