Identification of potential alternatives to conventional vegetable lecithin for the food industry

In the food industry, an emulsifier is needed to retard the separation between the mixture of insoluble phases such as water and oils. Lecithin is one of the widely used emulsifiers, with soybean lecithin dominating over the vegetable lecithin market, representing more than 90% of the available lecithin products. However, with the continuous concern about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), awareness concerning environmental and allergen issues, there is an expanding demand and need for the development of alternative sources of vegetable lecithin. This thesis aims to identify potential alternatives to conventional vegetable lecithin for the food industry. In collaboration with Cereal Docks Group’s Research and Innovation department and Nateeo S.r.l., lab-scale trials were conducted to study the in-house production of sunflower lecithin from crude oil, and new Italian crop matrices, such as rice bran, were explored to obtain vegetable lecithin. The results of the study highlight the possibility of lab-scale sunflower lecithin extraction using crude oil produced by Cereal Docks S.p.A, resulting in a considerably good-quality crude lecithin. When comparing between two different sunflower oil extraction methods (machine press vs hexane-extracted), it was proven that sunflower lecithin obtained from hexane-extracted oil was superior to that from machine-pressed oil. The use of 3.98% water and hydrogen peroxide during degumming resulted in higher yield compared to using lower amounts of water and no hydrogen peroxide. In addition, attempts were made to extract rice bran lecithin from crude oil on a laboratory scale to obtain liquid lecithin and de-oiled powder lecithin. However, both products exhibited high levels of impurities (e.g., toluene insoluble), rendering the lecithin unacceptable. Therefore, further study of the appropriate extraction method for rice bran lecithin is necessary to achieve better results. Given that several studies reported that rice bran lecithin has an advantage due to the content of natural antioxidants. Being an allergen-free ingredient and generally non-GMO also makes it a more promising source of alternative vegetable lecithin.