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Physical refining of coconut oil: Effect of crude oil quality and deodorization conditions on neutral oil loss
Author(s) -
Petrauskaitè V.,
De Greyt W. F.,
Kellens M. J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-000-0093-6
Subject(s) - refining (metallurgy) , coconut oil , chemistry , distillation , pulp and paper industry , crude oil , fatty acid , edible oil , steam distillation , chromatography , vacuum distillation , environmental science , petroleum engineering , food science , organic chemistry , engineering
In the present study, neutral oil loss (distillative and mechanical carry‐over) during physical refining of coconut oil was quantified. Neutral oil loss seems to depend on both the crude oil quality and the process conditions during deodorization. The distillation of volatile glyceridic components (monoand diglycerides), originally present in the crude oil, was confirmed as the major cause for the neutral oil loss. The amount of these volatile components in crude coconut oils cannot be derived as such from the initial free fatty acid content. A lower deodorization pressure with less sparge steam resulted in a larger neutral oil loss than a higher pressure with more steam. A “deodorizability” test on a laboratory scale under standardized conditions (temperature=230°C, pressure=3 mbar, time=60 min, sparge steam=1%), to evaluate crude oil quality and to obtain a more accurate prediction of the expected neutral oil loss and free fatty acid content in the fatty acid distillate, is described.