Direct Isomerization of Linoleic Acid to Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA) using Gold Catalysts

Factors influencing conjugated linoleic acid content of dairy products: challenges and strategies

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a bioactive fatty acid that provides various physiological benefits, has gained increasing attention in the food industry, and various studies have focused on enhancing its content in dairy products. The factors influencing CLA content in dairy products vary significantly, including lactation stage, breed type, seasonality, feed, management methods of the animals, the manufacturing processes, storage, and ripening periods of the product. Additionally, the incorporation of CLA-producing probiotic bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Propionibacterium, is an emerging study in this field. Studies have revealed that factors affecting the CLA content in milk affect that in dairy products as well. Furthermore, the species and strains of CLA-producing bacteria, fermentation conditions, ripening period, and type of dairy product are also contributing factors. However, production of CLA-enhanced dairy products using CLA-producing bacteria while maintaining their optimal viability and maximizing exposure to free linoleic acid remains limited. The current review emphasized the factors affecting the CLA content and related mechanisms, challenges in the application of CLA-producing probiotic bacteria, and strategies to address these challenges and enhance CLA production in dairy products. Therefore, the development of functional dairy products with enhanced CLA levels is expected to be possible.

Layered Double Hydroxides for the Catalytic Isomerization of Linoleic Acid to Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs)

Several hydrotalcite-type compounds with different divalent (Mg2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+) and trivalent (Al3+, Cr3+) cations and different ratio compositions were tested for the isomerization of linoleic acid in order to study their role on the obtention of specific conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) with anticarcinogenic and nutritional properties. This is a complex reaction due to the high number of possible isomers of linoleic acid together with the significant competition of the isomerization reaction with other secondary undesired reactions. All catalysts showed very high conversions of linoleic acid, but condensation products were mainly obtained, especially for the hydrotalcite-type compounds with higher Mg/Al ratios due to their higher Brønsted basicity and for the catalysts with higher Ni2+ content or with the presence of Cu2+, Zn2+ in the layers because of the influence of the higher acidity of these cations on the Brønsted basicity of the hydroxides. The best results were achieved for the catalysts with Mg/Al ratio around 2.5–3, resulting in 29–38% of selectivity to the identified CLAs.

Strategies for Producing and Incorporating Conjugated Linoleic Acid–Rich Oils in Foods

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is in ruminant-derived foods and is known to combat obesity-related diseases. However, CLA levels in a healthy diet are too low to produce a clinical effect. Therefore, CLA has been produced by linoleic isomerization through fermentation and chemical catalysis. Many of these techniques are not practical for food production, but a recent development has enabled production of CLA-rich triglyceride vegetable oils from high linoleic acid oils by a minor modification of conventional food-oil processing techniques. These oils were used to produce common lipid-based food, such as margarine, shortenings, and salad dressings, whose quality was enhanced by the presence of CLA-rich oil and provided a significant CLA source. Meat and egg CLA content and subsequent food quality can also be increased by addition of dietary CLA. However, consumer awareness of CLA benefits needs to increase prior to commercial-scale production of CLA-rich oil.

Double bond isomerization of ethyl linoleate and vegetable oils to conjugated derivatives over an LDH supported ruthenium catalyst

Isomerization of ethyl linoleate and vegetable oils to conjugated derivatives is achieved over an MgAl-LDH supported ruthenium catalyst under mild reaction conditions.

Design of Ru-zeolites for hydrogen-free production of conjugated linoleic acids

While conjugated vegetable oils are currently used as additives in the drying agents of oils and paints, they are also attractive molecules for making bio-plastics. Moreover, conjugated oils will soon be accepted as nutritional additives for "functional food" products. While current manufacture of conjugated vegetable oils or conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) uses a homogeneous base as isomerisation catalyst, a heterogeneous alternative is not available today. This contribution presents the direct production of CLAs over Ru supported on different zeolites, varying in topology (ZSM-5, BETA, Y), Si/Al ratio and countercation (H(+), Na(+), Cs(+)). Ru/Cs-USY, with a Si/Al ratio of 40, was identified as the most active and selective catalyst for isomerisation of methyl linoleate (cis-9,cis-12 (C18:2)) to CLA at 165 °C. Interestingly, no hydrogen pre-treatment of the catalyst or addition of hydrogen donors is required to achieve industrially relevant isomerisation productivities, namely, 0.7 g of CLA per litre of solvent per minute. Moreover, the biologically most active CLA isomers, namely, cis-9,trans-11, trans-10,cis-12 and trans-9,trans-11, were the main products, especially at low catalyst concentrations. Ex situ physicochemical characterisation with CO chemisorption, extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements, transmission electron microscopy analysis, and temperature-programmed oxidation reveals the presence of highly dispersed RuO(2) species in Ru/Cs-USY(40).

Catalytic production of conjugated fatty acids and oils

The reactive double bonds in conjugated vegetable oils are of high interest in industry. Traditionally, conjugated vegetable oils are added to paints, varnishes, and inks to improve their drying properties, while recently there is an increased interest in their use in the production of bioplastics. Besides the industrial applications, also food manufactures are interested in conjugated vegetable oils due to their various positive health effects. While the isomer type is less important for their industrial purposes, the beneficial health effects are mainly associated with the c9,t11, t10,c12 and t9,t11 CLA isomers. The production of CLA-enriched oils as additives in functional foods thus requires a high CLA isomer selectivity. Currently, CLAs are produced by conjugation of oils high in linoleic acid, for example soybean and safflower oil, using homogeneous bases. Although high CLA productivities and very high isomer selectivities are obtained, this process faces many ecological drawbacks. Moreover, CLA-enriched oils can not be produced directly with the homogeneous bases. Literature reports describe many catalytic processes to conjugate linoleic acid, linoleic acid methyl ester, and vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid: biocatalysts, for example enzymes and cells; metal catalysts, for example homogeneous metal complexes and heterogeneous catalysts; and photocatalysts. This Review discusses state-of-the-art catalytic processes in comparison with some new catalytic production routes. For each category of catalytic process, the CLA productivities and the CLA isomer selectivity are compared. Heterogeneous catalysis seems the most attractive approach for CLA production due to its easy recovery process, provided that the competing hydrogenation reaction is limited and the CLA production rate competes with the current homogeneous base catalysis. The most important criteria to obtain high CLA productivity and isomer selectivity are (1) absence of a hydrogen donor, (2) absence of catalyst acidity, (3) high metal dispersion, and (4) highly accessible pore architecture.