Micro-engineering based Structuring and Valorization of Lipid Foods

Microengineering-based structuring and valorization of lipid foods were investigated. First, to control the fatty acid composition of triglycerides, modified lipases were prepared using emulsifiers and fatty acids, and applied to interesterification of fats and oils. Stearic acid was suitable for lipase activation, showing high interesterification activity. The structure of stearic acid-modified lipase was first analyzed by small-angle X-ray scattering. Next, the membrane separation performance for crude oil was investigated using hydrophobic non-porous membranes. Degumming and decolorization tests for crude soybean oil were conducted, revealing that the rejection of phospholipids and the decolorization ratio were more than 95%, representing higher quality compared to conventional methods. Membrane application to used edible oil also showed better performance than the conventional adsorption method. For practical use, improvement of the permeate flux is needed. Finally, a technology was developed for preparing monodisperse emulsions using fabricated microchannels (MCs). Efficient emulsification was achieved using asymmetrically structured MCs. The slit structure caused large distortion of the oil-water interface, and the interfacial tension induced spontaneous droplet formation. Laboratory-scale MC emulsification equipment was industrialized and used for various applications.