Study of the Effect of DATEM. 4: Optimization of DATEM Synthesis

DATEM synthesis was optimized to produce samples with high amounts of active components for breadmaking. Therefore, the parameters of a standard procedure were modified systematically and the amounts of the major components in the resulting samples were determined by highperformance liquid chromatography. Standard solutions of the three most active components were used for identification and quantitation. Molten reactions between monoacylglycerols and diacetyltartaric acid anhydride at low temperature (100°C) had a positive effect on the formation of active components, especially after the addition of sodium acetate as a catalyst. The yield of active components increased up to 88% compared to ~60% obtained by a standard procedure. The highest yield of the major components was obtained by using tetrahydrofuran as a solvent and pyridine as a catalyst. Under these conditions more than 90% of the DATEM sample were components with high baking activity.