Undip Vocational School Students Develop Sugar Esters from Used Cooking Oil

Semarang (ANTARA) - Students from the Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology study programme at the Vocational School (SV) of Diponegability University (Undip) Semarang have developed an innovation for the synthesis of sugar esters using used cooking oil as a raw material.

Mohamad Endy Julianto, a lecturer from the TRKI study programme at Undip Semarang, stated in Semarang on Friday that the innovation was developed by students part of the Lipastera team under the project titled “Lipase Biocatalyst Engineering for Sugar Ester Synthesis from Used Cooking Oil.”

“The compound possesses characteristics as a non-ionic surfactant with the potential to be utilised in various applications,” he said.

He explained that free fatty acids are reacted with glucose to form sugar esters.

Through this approach, he continued, used cooking oil, which was previously considered waste, is redirected to serve as a raw material for producing materials with higher utility.

Sugar esters, according to him, have the potential to be used as surfactants, which are substances that help to emulsify or stabilise the mixture between oil and water.

He noted that this potential is one of the primary reasons the Lipastera team is exploring the use of used cooking oil as a raw material for sugar ester synthesis.

In its development, the Lipastera team conducted evaluations of various process conditions to determine their influence on the characteristics of the resulting sugar esters.

Through this innovation, the Lipastera team seeks to demonstrate that used cooking oil does not necessarily have to end up as waste.

“With a process engineering and biocatalysis approach, materials that have long been underutilised can be redirected as raw materials to produce value-added products,” he said.

He added that this development is also part of the efforts by TRKI students at the Undip Vocational School to integrate chemical engineering knowledge with concepts of sustainability and more optimal resource utilisation.