Sorbitan Monooleate and Polysorbate 80

1. What kinds of sorbitan esters are there? They are distinguished according to different fatty acids.

A lot of people do not know what sorbitan esters are. Sorbitan esters are emulsifiers that can be used in many industries, especially in food. Chemical components of sorbitan esters are dehydrated sorbitol fatty acid esters, which are mixtures of esters compounds, formed by the reaction of sorbitols and its mono-anhydride and dianhydride with fatty acids.

Sorbitan esters have different forms, for example, amber viscous liquid, yellowish waxy solid, amber viscous oily liquid and yellow oily liquid. Sorbitan esters are common W/O emulsifiers with an HLB values between 1.8 and 8.6, a hydroxyl values between 60 and 360 and a saponification values between 140 and 188. They are not insoluble in water, but soluble in ethanol and easily hydrolyzed by acids, bases and enzymes.

Depending on different fatty acids, sorbitan esters can be divided into several varieties, such as sorbitan monolaurate, sorbitan monopalmitate, sorbitan monostearate, sorbitan tristearate, sorbitan monooleate, sorbitan trioleate. Now let's focus on discussing sorbitan monooleate.

2. Sorbitan monooleate and polysorbate 80 emulsifiers are used differently in the food industry.

(1) Polysorbate 80 is a kind of polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, which is an amber viscous oily liquid. It can be used as emulsifiers in the production of food industries of beverage, toffee, ice cream, bread, pastry, malted milk, margarine, chocolate ect.

(2) Sorbitan monooleate is a kind of dehydrated sorbitol fatty acid esters, which is an amber viscous oily liquid. The sorbitan monooleate can be used as an emulsifier in the food industry of sauce, jam, chocolate, butter, vegetable protein products etc.

3. The ranges of applications of sorbitan monooleate and polysorbate 80 are different.

(1) Polysorbate 80 is suitable for deep or light products of carboxylic esters synthesized from animal or vegetable oils. It is not suitable for use in products that are difficult to saponify and products than contains mineral acids.

(2) Sorbitan monooleate are used as an emulsifier in machinery, coating, chemical and w/o emulsion explosive. It is also used as an emulsifier in oil drilling mud and in foods and cosmetics formulations. Furthermore, it is used as a lubricant for smoothing fibers of chinlons and viscose cords.