Exotic di- and tri-saccharide esters: A review

Sugar-derived fatty acid esters have become an increasing focus of research because of their natural (sustainable) origins and highly desirable physicochemical properties. Compared with commercialized sucrose esters, certain novel di- and tri-saccharide-derived fatty acid esters can be considered “exotic” given that they exhibit distinctive but under-appreciated features. More specifically, such esters have garnered attention because of their unique properties, including enhanced emulsification capacities and other superior attributes. Accordingly, they may "fill the gaps" in the broad spectrum of emulsifiers required by various industries but few relevant and systematic evaluations of them exist. Herein, therefore, the fatty acid esters prepared from four disaccharides and two trisaccharides, namely lactose, lactulose, trehalose, maltose, raffinose and maltotriose are described. Chemical and enzymatic methods for their preparation, as well as their surface-active properties and biological activities are considered and, thereby, the prospects for deploying them as functional surfactants in a range of settings are revealed.