Fatty acids at the glycerol 2-position by lipase method

15 Fatty acids at the glycerol 2-position by lipase method 

This method permits a clear distinction between a natural olive oil and an olive oil that has undergone esterification or inter-esterification processes, by determining the distribution of fatty acids on the three positions of glycerol. Lipases catalyse the following reactions  

After inter-esterification an olive oil will present higher concentrations of saturated fatty acids at the 2-position than in the original oil, and this increase can be correlated with the overall percentage of fatty acids. In a real case like that described by Gavriilidou and Boskou (1991) for olive oil-tristearin blends, it is shown how the percentage of saturated fatty acids at the sn-2 position of monoglycerides increases significantly in relation to the blend ratios (Table 2.4). 

Inter-esterification has many industrial applications such as the production of structured lipids and the manipulation of the physical properties of oils. This method is therefore intended to check the overall genuine authenticity of any commercial olive oil. 

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