Abstract:
A systematic study on the transesterificaton of sago starch with Palm Cooking Oil (PO) in
densified CO2 is described. The effect of several process variables such as pressures (10 -15
MPa), PO intakes (3-7 mol/mol anhydroglucose unit (AGU), and catalyst intakes (K2CO3,
0.05 – 0.2 mol/mol AGU) on the Ester Content (EC) and the characteristics of the products
were explored. The results show that the fatty acid starch esters can be succesfully
synthesized through a transesterification reaction using PO as the reagent as confirmed with
the FT-IR analyses. Within the experimental range, the maximum EC (224 meq/kg) is
achieved with a pressure of 12 MPa, temperature of 120oC, PO intake of 5 mol/mol AGU
and K2CO3 intake of 0.05 mol/mol AGU. In addition, the results from SEM and XRD
analysis show the clear changes on the starch granule structure of the products.
