JAKARTA – Emulsifier is widely used in various industries, from foods, beverages, paints, and to cosmetic industries which produce emulsion products. Emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally unmixable, in which one liquid functions as a dispersed phase to the others that function as the continuous phase.
Generally, emulsions are not stable as the dispersed liquids tend to merge or separate from the other liquids as the continuous phase. One example is the emulsion of fat and water which are naturally immiscible and tend to separate, depending on their environmental condition.
Usually, an emulsifier is applied in order to stabilize the emulsion system. The emulsifier contains parts which are hydrophilic and hydrophobic in nature. The hydrophilic parts can easily dissolve in water, while the hydrophobic ones are very difficult or perhaps impossible to dissolve in water. The emulsifier is concentrated on the interface of water phase and oil phase and reduce the interfacial tension so that the emulsion can be stable.
In commercial emulsifier, the hydrophilic parts consist of glycerol, sorbitol, sucrose, propylene glycol or polyglycerol. The hydrophobic parts are formed by fatty acid, which is the derivative of fat and oils such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil.
Emulsifier types
There are various types of emulsifiers which are produced and used by industries. But whatever their types, the emulsifiers have to have the needed characteristics, such as chemically stable in a system, inert to other emulsifiers, non-toxic, non-irritant and odorless. There are various kinds of emulsifiers which are widely used in industries, especially in food and beverage industries.
Emulsifier raw materials
The emulsifier industries use a variety of raw materials to make emulsifiers, depending on the types of emulsifiers they will produce. The raw materials of emulsifier can be derived from plants and animals. Oil or triglycerides from plants, such as crude palm oil (CPO), are widely used as raw materials. Other raw materials are derived from animal fats, especially tallow, or other substances which have sorbitol, sugar, tartric acid, lactic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, etc.
Emulsifier uses
The emulsifiers are used a lot in food industries. The food products that use emulsifiers include products of bakery, chocolate, and confectionery, culinary, dairy-based products, frozen desserts, red meat, poultry, seafood, oils and fats. In addition to that, the emulsifiers are also used in cosmetic industries.
The wide use of emulsifiers in the industries has created a big opportunity for Indonesia to develop its local emulsifiers industry. The raw materials to produce the emulsifiers are widely available in Indonesia, especially the palm oil as Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO), which sees production rising every year.
What is needed to consider is the fact that the technology of emulsifier production is generally more closed than the technology of basic oleochemical process. Usually, the emulsifier producers have their own variety of products, different raw materials and production process, and different specifications. Such condition has underlined the importance of conducting a research and development on the emulsifier processing technology. (Wahyu Purwanto/Researcher in Technology Center)
Source: InfoSAWIT
