Medium Chain Triglyceride

Introduction

 

Medium-chain triglycerides  ( MCTs ) are  triglycerides  with two or three  fatty acids  having an  aliphatic  tail of 6–12 carbon atoms, i.e., medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Rich food sources for commercial extraction of MCTs include  palm kernel oil  and  coconut oil .

Medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) are introduced as a special energy source within a variety of clinical nutrition settings including pancreatic insufficiency, fat malabsorption and total parental nutrition etc.

MCT is also used in preterm infant formulas and it is recognized as GRAS by US Food and Drug Administration.

As a solvent or carrier of lipophilic nutrients or drugs such as vitamin k and phospholipids.

MCTs can penetrate intestinal cells directly and can be absorbed into the portal venous system more rapidly. As a result, the diet-induced thermo genesis is accelerated. Due to this absorption behavior, MCTs have been receiving much attention as a dietary fat to prevent body fat accumulation.

Compared with triglycerides, containing mainly saturated long-chain fatty acids, MCTs have a lower melting point, smaller molecular size and liquid at room temperature, and less energy dense.

Major Raw Materials: Glycerol and C 8 -C 10 fatty acid mixture

Brief Process Description: This is an import substitute. Process for the preparation of MCTs involves the esterification of glycerol with C 8 -C 10 fatty acid mixture employing solid acid catalyst. The product meets the International standard specifications

Scale of Demonstration: 100 g of Glycerol/batch

 

Status of Commercialization: Looking forward for industry collaboration for upscaling.

 

For further information please contact

 

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
Uppal Road, Tarnaka,
Hyderabad - 500 007
Phone: +91-40-21791623
E-mail: aau@iict.res.in