Sintesis Gliseril Trilaurat Dari Palm Kernel Oil (Pko) Menggunakan Metode Elektrosintesis

Abstract

Palm Palm kernel oil (PKO) is a vegetable oil that contains a significant amount of lauric acid Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) play various roles as antivirus, antibacterial, and other applications Glyceryl trilaurate is one of the MCTs that can be synthesized from PKO through an electro-synthesis method, which is a compound synthesis based on electrochemical cells This study aims to synthesize medium-chain triglycerides, specifically glyceryl trilaurate, from PKO. The synthesis is carried out using the electro-synthesis method based on the transesterification reaction of methanol with triglycerides, resulting in methyl laurate, and the esterification reaction of glycerol with lauric acid, resulting in glyceryl trilaurate. The best results were obtained under optimum conditions with a voltage of 19.2 volts for 30 minutes, producing 49,98% glyceryl trilaurate and 12.06% methyl laurate. Therefore, it is concluded that the synthesis of glyceryl trilaurate from PKO can be achieved through transesterification and esterification reactions using the electro-synthesis method.