Tocopherols
Tocopherols are a family of four fat soluble compounds, designated alpha, beta, gamma and delta, each built from a chromanol ring carrying a saturated sixteen carbon phytyl side chain and differing only in how many methyl groups sit on the ring.
Their function in food rests on a single reaction. The phenolic hydroxyl on the ring donates a hydrogen atom to a lipid peroxyl radical, terminating the chain reaction that turns a fat rancid, and the resulting tocopheroxyl radical is stable enough not to propagate further. The degree of ring methylation shifts the balance between antioxidant strength and vitamin activity in opposite directions: delta is the strongest antioxidant in a bulk fat and the weakest vitamin, alpha the reverse. This is why a product sold as a nutrient and a product sold as an antioxidant may both be called tocopherols and yet be quite different articles.
The commercial form is normally a clear viscous oil, ranging from pale yellow to reddish brown with rising concentration, insoluble in water and miscible with fats, oils and ethanol. Dry dispersible powders on a carrier are also traded. Tocopherols darken and lose activity on exposure to air, light and trace metals, so they are stored under nitrogen, and in use they work best alongside ascorbyl palmitate, which regenerates the oxidised molecule, and a chelator that removes the metal ions initiating oxidation.
We source bulk Tocopherols from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. 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 viscous oil, yellow to reddish brown |
| Odour | Characteristic vegetable oil odour |
| Identification | HPLC profile matches tocopherol reference standards |
| Total Tocopherol Assay | 50.0 to 60.0% |
| Alpha-Tocopherol | 10 to 20% of total tocopherols |
| Gamma-Tocopherol | ≥ 50% of total tocopherols |
| Refractive Index at 20 °C | 1.500 to 1.507 |
| Acid Value | ≤ 3.0 mg KOH/g |
| Peroxide Value | ≤ 10 meq/kg |
| Unsaponifiable Matter | ≥ 60% |
| Moisture | ≤ 0.5% |
| Residual Hexane | ≤ 25 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
The first division is natural against synthetic. Natural tocopherols are recovered from vegetable oil refining and are a mixture dominated by gamma, sold as concentrates at 30, 50, 70 or 90 percent total tocopherol with refined vegetable oil making up the balance. Synthetic material is made by total chemical synthesis and, in the case of all-rac-alpha-tocopherol, is a mixture of eight stereoisomers with a different assigned vitamin activity per milligram from the natural RRR form, so the two are not interchangeable on a nutrition label even though they are interchangeable as antioxidants.
The second division is homologue distribution. Standard gamma dominant concentrates are the usual antioxidant grade. Alpha enriched grades, made by methylating the lower homologues, are sold where vitamin activity is the object. Delta enriched grades go into the most oxidatively demanding applications. Beyond the oils, dry grades adsorbed or spray dried onto silica, maltodextrin or modified starch serve dry mixes and premixes, and ready blended antioxidant systems combining tocopherols with ascorbyl palmitate, rosemary extract, lecithin and citric acid are traded as finished formulations.
Applications
- Edible oils, frying oils and fat blends, delaying the onset of rancidity in storage and in the fryer
- Marine and algal omega-3 oils, protecting the highly unsaturated chains that oxidise fastest
- Meat, poultry and sausage products, limiting warmed over flavour and colour deterioration
- Bakery fats, margarine and shortening, stabilising the fat phase across shelf life
- Snack foods, nuts and roasted seeds, applied through the frying oil or the seasoning system
- Animal feed and pet food, protecting added fats and serving clean label reformulation away from synthetic antioxidants
- Infant formula and clinical nutrition, protecting the lipid fraction and contributing vitamin E activity
- Vitamin A, vitamin D and carotenoid preparations, protecting other oxidisable actives in the same carrier
- Encapsulated flavour oils, restricting oxidation of citrus and terpene components
- Cosmetic emulsions and skin oils, functioning as antioxidant and label ingredient
Brands Using Tocopherols
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Tocopherols on the ingredient label.
- CodeageLiposomal Vitamin E+ ↗A vitamin E capsule supplying a blend of D-alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherol isomers in liposomal form.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Naked NutritionNaked Vitamin E Softgels ↗A softgel delivering 400 IU of natural vitamin E per capsule, with mixed tocopherols listed for broader antioxidant coverage.Label verified 2026-08-31
- CodeageDNA PET Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil ↗A salmon oil for dogs formulated with mixed tocopherols added to the oil.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 Tocopherols
Top 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. Tocopherol-rich extract of natural origin is E306, synthetic alpha-tocopherol is E307, synthetic gamma-tocopherol is E308 and synthetic delta-tocopherol is E309, with identity and purity criteria in the accompanying specifications regulation and permitted uses given by food category. Where tocopherols are added as a nutrient rather than as an antioxidant, the vitamin addition rules of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 and the food supplements directive apply instead.
In the United States tocopherols are generally recognised as safe for use as chemical preservatives under 21 CFR 182.3890, and alpha-tocopherol is separately affirmed as GRAS for nutrient use under 21 CFR 184.1890. JECFA has evaluated tocopherols and published identity and purity specifications, and Codex lists tocopherol concentrate, mixed, and the individual synthetic homologues in the General Standard for Food Additives as antioxidants. Feed use is authorised under the European feed additives regulation, and pharmacopoeial monographs exist for the several vitamin E forms.
Manufacturing Process
Commercial natural tocopherols come from deodoriser distillate, the vacuum condensate collected during the deodorisation of crude vegetable oil, in which tocopherols are concentrated with free fatty acids, sterols, sterol esters, squalene and residual glycerides. Soybean distillate is the largest source, with sunflower and rapeseed also used.
The distillate is esterified with methanol under acid catalysis, converting free fatty acids into methyl esters that boil far below the tocopherols and can be stripped off in a first distillation. Sterols are then removed by crystallisation from solvent at low temperature, making use of their poor cold solubility. The remaining tocopherol rich stream is concentrated by short path molecular distillation under high vacuum, chosen because the very short residence time avoids the thermal degradation a conventional column would cause, and a second pass raises the assay to the target grade. Where a particular homologue is wanted, further fractional distillation or adsorption chromatography separates the cuts. The concentrate is decoloured on adsorbent, standardised with refined vegetable oil to the declared assay, blanketed with nitrogen and filled into lined drums, with dry forms produced downstream by spray drying or adsorption onto a carrier.
