Micellar Solubilization of Oleic Acid and its Enrichment in Mixture with Stearic Acid

The optimum solubilization of oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid which is an important constituent in almost all fats, was determined using aqueous SDS micellar solution in presence of sodium chloride and n-butanol. Its solubilization in SDS micellar solution increases with an increase in concentration of SDS. Maximum solubilization of oleic acid was found to be at 11.0% SDS (w/w) and above it the solubilization decreases. Also solubilization of oleic acid in the above system was found to increase with addition of sodium chloride and n-butanol. At a concentration ratio 1:2 (w/w) of SDS and butanol, the solubilization of oleic acid was found to be the maximum. Oleic acid dissolved in SDS micellar solution can be extracted by adding excess amount of sodium chloride.