D-δ Mixed Tocopherols
D-δ Mixed Tocopherols is a natural tocopherol concentrate that has been fractionated to raise the proportion of delta-tocopherol, the least methylated of the four homologues, and it is bought for antioxidant performance rather than for vitamin activity.
The four tocopherols differ only in the number and position of methyl groups on the chromanol ring, and that difference reverses their two functions. Alpha-tocopherol, fully methylated, has the highest vitamin E activity in the body but the weakest antioxidant performance in a bulk fat. Delta-tocopherol, with a single methyl group, is the most effective of the four at interrupting lipid oxidation and the most resistant to the pro-oxidant behaviour that alpha can show at high concentration in an oil. A delta enriched concentrate therefore protects a fat at a lower use level than a standard gamma dominant blend.
It is a clear to slightly hazy viscous oil, amber to reddish brown, with a characteristic vegetable oil odour, insoluble in water and miscible with fats, oils and ethanol. It darkens on exposure to air, light and metal ions and is handled under nitrogen. Performance improves markedly in combination with ascorbyl palmitate, which regenerates the oxidised tocopherol, and with citric acid or another chelator that ties up the trace metals that start the chain.
We source bulk D-δ Mixed Tocopherols from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Vitamin
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear to slightly hazy viscous oil, amber to reddish brown |
| Odour | Characteristic vegetable oil odour |
| Identification | HPLC retention matches alpha, beta, gamma and delta reference standards |
| Total Tocopherol Assay | 70.0 to 80.0% |
| Delta-Tocopherol | ≥ 40% of total tocopherols |
| Gamma-Tocopherol | 40 to 55% of total tocopherols |
| Alpha-Tocopherol | ≤ 8% of total tocopherols |
| Refractive Index at 20 °C | 1.503 to 1.507 |
| Acid Value | ≤ 3.0 mg KOH/g |
| Peroxide Value | ≤ 10 meq/kg |
| Moisture | ≤ 0.5% |
| Residual Hexane | ≤ 25 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are defined by total tocopherol content and by the homologue distribution. Total assay is commonly 30, 50, 70 or 90 percent, and the balance is the refined vegetable oil in which the concentrate is diluted, usually sunflower oil, soybean oil or medium chain triglyceride. On the composition axis, delta enriched grades typically carry delta at 40 percent or more of total tocopherols, against the 15 to 30 percent found in an unfractionated concentrate, with gamma making up most of the remainder and alpha deliberately kept low.
Dry dispersible versions are produced by adsorbing or spray drying the oil onto silica, maltodextrin or modified starch for use in dry blends and seasonings. Ready made antioxidant systems combining the concentrate with ascorbyl palmitate, rosemary extract, lecithin or citric acid in a carrier oil are traded as finished formulations. Non-GMO and identity preserved documentation is standard because the feedstock is a commodity oilseed stream, and the diluent oil is declared for allergen purposes.
Applications
- Frying oils and edible oil blends, extending induction time and delaying rancidity
- Fish, krill and algal oils, where the highly unsaturated chains oxidise fastest and need the strongest protection
- Rendered animal fat, tallow and lard, protecting flavour and colour through storage
- Meat products, sausage and dried meat, controlling warmed over flavour development
- Snack foods, nuts and roasted seeds, applied through the frying medium or the seasoning oil
- Bakery fats, margarine and shortening, stabilising the fat phase across shelf life
- Pet food and animal feed, protecting added fats and replacing synthetic antioxidants in clean label ranges
- Carotenoid, vitamin A and vitamin D preparations, protecting other oxidisable actives in the carrier
- Encapsulated and spray dried flavour oils, limiting oxidation of citrus and terpene components
- Cosmetic oils and anhydrous formulations, protecting the lipid base from oxidative rancidity
Brands Using D-δ Mixed Tocopherols
Widely-distributed consumer products that list D-δ Mixed Tocopherols on the ingredient label.
- Country LifeNatural Vitamin E-Complex 400 I.U. Softgels ↗Supplement facts read 'Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol with natural unesterified d-beta, d-delta, d-gamma tocopherols)'.Label verified 2026-08-31
- SolarayVitamin E, Mixed Tocopherols 268 mg Softgels ↗Product page states the vitamin E is formulated in a base of mixed tocopherols of d-beta, d-gamma and d-delta.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Bluebonnet NutritionVitamin E 400 IU d-Alpha & Mixed Tocopherols Softgels ↗Sold as vitamin E with d-alpha and mixed tocopherols, naming the mixed tocopherol fraction on the label.Label verified 2026-08-31
- CarlsonE-Gems Plus 400 IU (268 mg) Soft Gels ↗Described as d-alpha tocopherol plus a mixture of d-beta, d-delta and d-gamma tocopherols.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of D-δ Mixed Tocopherols
Top D-δ Mixed Tocopherols manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the European Union, Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 authorises tocopherols as antioxidants. A natural concentrate of this kind is covered by E306, tocopherol-rich extract, while the synthetic single homologues are listed separately as E307 for alpha, E308 for gamma and E309 for delta. Identity and purity criteria are set out in the accompanying specifications regulation, and permitted uses are given by food category.
In the United States tocopherols are generally recognised as safe for use as chemical preservatives under 21 CFR 182.3890, which is the relevant status for antioxidant use, while alpha-tocopherol is separately affirmed as GRAS for nutrient purposes under 21 CFR 184.1890. JECFA has evaluated tocopherols and published identity and purity specifications, and Codex lists tocopherol concentrate, mixed, in the General Standard for Food Additives as an antioxidant. Because a delta enriched grade contributes little vitamin E activity, it should not be relied on to meet a nutritional vitamin E declaration.
Manufacturing Process
The feedstock is deodoriser distillate from vegetable oil refining, in which tocopherols are concentrated together with free fatty acids, sterols, sterol esters, squalene and glycerides. It is first esterified with methanol under acid catalysis so that free fatty acids become methyl esters that boil well below the tocopherols and can be stripped away, and sterols are then removed by crystallisation from solvent at low temperature.
The tocopherol rich stream is concentrated by short path molecular distillation under high vacuum, a technique chosen because the very short residence time avoids the thermal degradation that a packed column would cause. Enriching delta requires a further separation, since the homologues differ little in volatility: this is achieved by repeated fractional molecular distillation passes, by adsorption chromatography, or by selectively derivatising and removing the alpha and gamma fractions. The alpha rich cut is diverted to vitamin E production rather than discarded. The delta enriched fraction is decoloured on adsorbent, standardised with refined vegetable oil to the declared assay, blanketed with nitrogen and filled into lined drums.
