Did you know there are several benefits of using methyl esters as raw materials to produce derivatives? Methyl Esters, extracted from natural oils and fats, can be utilized as substitutes for fatty acids when producing various derivatives. 

The derivatives from methyl esters comprise fatty alkanolamides, isopropyl esters, methyl oleate, fatty alcohols, and even sucrose polyesters. There are numerous advantages of using this substance, like the ability to make high-purity end products, the use of milder conditions during syntheses, and the requirement for cheaper construction materials.

The extraction process of Methyl Esters

Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) can be generated from multiple sources, but most are produced from animal fats, vegetable oils, or unused cooking oil through transesterification. When utilizing the technique, alcohols and glycerides react to make fatty acids, producing methyl esters.

There are numerous steps involved when preparing a food sample for solvent extraction. Drying the food samples using a solvent before the oil extraction process is important since many organic solvents are immiscible in water. That means they can’t easily penetrate foods containing a lot of water, so extraction might be inefficient. In that case, you can do vacuum oven drying at lower temperatures or use lyophilization for better lipid extraction. Ground the dried samples before the solvent extraction to make a homogeneous sample and to increase the surface area for lipids exposed to the solvents.

The perfect solvent for lipid extraction should be chosen. The extraction process’s efficiency depends on the solvent’s and lipids’ polarity. Note that the polarity of lipids is different since polar lipids like phospholipids and glycolipids are soluble in polar organic solvents like alcohol. On the other hand, non-polar lipids like triacylglycerols are soluble in non-polar solvents like hexane. So, a mixture of several solvents is frequently used in classical extraction since it’schoosing a single organic solvent is impossible. Additionally, the ideal solvent should be affordable, love a low boiling point, be nonflammable and be non-toxic.

What Are Methyl Esters Used For?

Fatty acid methyl esters serve as vital ingredients in a wider range of products people use. There are numerous applications for this product, and they include the following:

  • Drug and food preservatives

This happens when you use a form of esters called parabens. In addition, the preservation of drugs and foods helps in averting the growth of microorganisms like yields and mold.

  • Manufacturing soaps

This is achieved through the saponification procedure, where the hydrolysis of oils and fats, in the presence of alkali, is mixed to produce glycerol. The product is used in shampoo and hand cleaners.

  • Solvents for greases and oils

Fatty acid methyl esters are ideal solvents since they can easily dissolve organic fluids. In addition, they have higher temperature stability, good cleaning capacity, and lower volatility. This makes them the best solvent for grease and oil.

  • Manufacturing insecticides

Phosphoric methyl esters, like orthophosphate, are many. They play an important role in everyday life procedures and have numerous applications, including the making of insecticides and pesticides.

Since Fatty acid methyl esters are biodegradable and generate lower VOCs, they have a green profile. That means they’re environmentally versatile and safe and contribute to the ongoing mission to protect the environment and community.