As a new functional oil

the medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) hold promising applications in diverse areas such as food

cosmetics and other fields.Several methods have been developed for the synthesis of MCTs

including traditional chemical processes and lipase-catalyzed

both them have great drawbacks such as the long reaction time.As a new alternative method

microwave irradiation on the esterification of caprylic/capric acids with glycerol was investigated in this study.Subsequently

Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were used to determine the structure and compositions of the liquid products

respectively.Compared to the conventional heating method

microwave assisted synthesis of MCTs shortened the reaction time greatly when achieving the same conversion.Response surface methodology (RSM) with a 3-level-3-factor central composite design (CCD) was applied to model and optimize the reaction conditions and

a quadratic model was developed as consequence

in order to correlate the preparation variable to the response.The optimum conditions for the synthesis of MCTs were as follows:reaction temperature of 190℃

substrate mole ratio (fatty acid:glycerol) of 3.33:1 and PTSA loading of 4.30%(mass).Under these conditions

the actual hydroxyl value 1.12 mg KOH·g-1 was obtained

which is comparably well with the minimum predicted value of 1.03 mg KOH·g-1

corresponding to the conversion yield was 99.7%.