EKB 4343

VEGETABLE OIL MILLING & REFINING PROCESSING

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
 Introduction
• Vegetable oils is a triglyceride extracted from a plant that are
liquid at room temperature and that are solid at room
temperature called vegetable fats
• Vegetable oils are consumed directly as cooking oil; as raw
materials for shortenings, margarines, and other specialty fats
products; as ingredient or component in many manufactured
products i.e. soaps, skin products, candles, perfumes and other
personal care and cosmetic products; used to make biodiesel
• Vegetable oils and fats are water insoluble, hydrophobic
substances that consist predominantly of Fatty acid esters
(FAEs) so called triglycerides
• Triglycerides is the reaction product of one molecule of glycerol
with three molecules of fatty acids to yield one molecule of
triglyceride and three molecules of water
Triglycerides Structure
 Vegetable Oil Classification
Type Content
Byproduct • Secondary product made in the production of something
else
• Soybean yields meal (79%) and oil (18%)
Tree Crop • Tree of commercially desirable species with the potential
to grow straight, tall, and vigorously
• Palm can crops for 25-30 years and its production can not
be changed on a yearly basis
Annual Crop • Plant that completes its life cycle from germination to the
production of seeds within one year and then dies
• Soybean, rapeseed, sunflower can be harvested annual
basis and depends on the planter as well based on
agricultural and economic factors
 Major Vegetable Oils Yields
Oil Oil Content Oil Yield Producing Countries
% Kg/ha
Soybean 18–20 450–500 United States, Brazil, Argentina,
China, India, Paraguay, Bolivia
Palm 45–50 3000–5000 Malaysia, Indonesia, China,
Philippines, Pakistan, Mexico,
Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador,
Nigeria, Ivory Coast
Palm Kernel 44–53 300–500 Malaysia, Indonesia, China,
Philippines, Pakistan, Mexico,
Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador,
Nigeria, Ivory Coast
Rapeseed 40–45 590–660 Canada, China, India, France,
(Canola) Austria, United Kingdom,
Germany, Poland, Denmark,
Czechoslovakia, United States
Sunflower 35–45 515–660 Russia, Argentina, CIS, Austria,
France, Italy, Germany, Spain,
United States, United Kingdom
Vegetable Oil & Fats Yields
• Most oil seeds are annual crops and the harvest is seasonal while
palm oil is a tree crop with two crops produced
• Soybean an annual oil seed crop with a low oil content still
provides the largest vegetable oil production in the world
• Palm trees yield almost 10 times the soybean oil yield per hectare
• Rapeseed an annual oil seed crop developed to second in oil
utilization only after soybean oil
• Rapeseed has the second highest oil content and oil yield per
hectare of all the annual plants
Global Vegetable Oils Production
2015 – Tonnes 000’s

4 major oils & fats = 74% market share

Global Vegetable Oils & Fats Availability
• World’s major oils and fats production trend is influenced by
factors other than oil demand:
– Soybeans are specifically crushed to meet the demands for
meal
– Rapeseed and sunflower are subsidized and controlled by the
governments of the major producing countries
– Palm kernel oil production is dependent upon palm oil
requirements grown in the same fruit bunch
– Palm oils produced from the fruit of trees that have long
productive life spans therefore their production cannot be
adjusted to demand changes from year to year
– Weather i.e El Nino in Malaysia can decrease the oil available
on the world market but favorable weather in United States
produces a soybean crop with maximum yields that increase
the available soy oil for the world market
 Oils & Fats Characterization
• Oils and fats are commonly referred to as triglycerides because
the glycerin molecule has three hydroxyl groups where a fatty
acid can be attached and contribute to its different properties
• The fatty acid components are distinguished in three ways:
1. chain length
2. number position of the double bonds
3. position of the fatty acids within the glyceride molecule
• The fatty-acid carbon-chain lengths vary between 4 and 24
carbon atoms with up to three double bonds
• The most prevalent saturated fatty acids are Lauric (C-12:0),
Myristic (C-14:0), Palmitic (C-16:0), Stearic (C-18:0), Arachidic
(C-20:0), Behenic (C-22:0), and Lignoceric (C-24:0)
• The most important monounsaturated fatty acids are Oleic (C-
18:1) and Erucic (C-22:1)
• The essential polyunsaturated fatty acids are Linoleic (C-18:2)
and Linolenic (C-18:3)
Example of an unsaturated fat triglyceride
 Non-glyceride Components
• Triglycerides is primary constituents in crude oils and fats but also
contain varying amounts of minor components which significantly
affect their chemical and physical properties
• Crude vegetable oils commonly contain 2% or more non-glyceride
substances apart from free fatty acids
• These minor components referred as the unsaponifiable fraction
consist of:
– Phospholipids, carbohydrates, resins;
– Pigments i.e. carotene, chlorophyll, and gossypol
– Sterols
– Pesticides
– Trace metals
– Others; tocopherols
• Not all of the non-glyceride materials are undesirable hence the
objective in edible oil processing is to remove the objectionable
impurities with the least damage to the desirable constituents
Phospholipids
• Known as phosphatides with small quantities of carbohydrates and
resins as gums that have adverse effects on product quality and
refined oil yield
• Emulsifiers and obstruct the oil and water phases separation in
chemical refining, interfere bleaching, catalyst poisons of
hydrogenation, shorten shelf life and foul equipment surfaces
• Two categories; hydratable that can be separated from the oil phase
with water degumming and nonhydratable which remain in the oil
after water degumming
• Typical water degumming will remove the hydratable phosphatides to
level of 200 ppm phosphorus for soybean and rapeseed oils
• Pretreatment of good-quality crude oils with phosphoric or citric acid
before refining successful removing both nonhydratable and
hydratable phosphatides to phosphorus level of 20 to 30 ppm
• The gums separated with water degumming process can be dried for
lecithin processing however the gums isolated with acid degumming
processes are not suitable for standard lecithin
Pigments
• Color bodies in fats and oils
– Carotenes which impart yellow and red colors to the oil
– Chlorophylls which give greenish cast
– Gossypol which provides the yellowish color to cottonseed oil
– Other components still not completely identified i.e. the one
giving a blue color that is observed occasionally in lard
• Carotenes are heat sensitive and readily adsorbed by bleaching
earths
• Chlorophyll found in soybean, canola, and olive oils reduced by
heat bleaching
• Gossypol found only in cottonseed oil at about 0.1 to 0.2% in the
crude oil and must be chemically refined with caustic soda
Sterols
• High melting point, colorless, heat stable, and relatively inert and
antipolymerization activity has been identified for some sterols in
heated oils
• Alkali refining removes a portion of the sterols but more effective
removal requires fractional crystallization, molecular distillation or
high-temperature steam distillation
• The vegetable sterols are known collectively as phytosterols

Pesticides
• Pesticides used to increase agriculture production reach the soil
surface as well as translocate to oil-bearing plant seeds
• Pesticides are removed by volatilization during deodorization
• The use of deodorizer distillates in animal feeds has been forbidden
because of the pesticide content
Trace Metals
• Trace amounts of metals are absorbed by plants during the growing
season and during oils and fats processing
• Harmful to product quality, human health and reduce the process
efficiency
• Trace quantities of Copper, Iron, Manganese and Nickel substantially
reduce the oxidative stability of fats and oils
• Calcium, Sodium, and Magnesium reduce the efficiency of the
refining i.e. degumming, bleaching, and hydrogenation systems
• The metals effects can be diminished by the use of chelating agents
i.e. Citric and Phosphoric acids
Vegetable Oils & Fats Processing
• Crude oils and fats recovered from oilseeds, fruits and nuts contain
few impurities, quite offensive smelling and highly impure materials
• Processing techniques of vegetable oils & fats – refine them, make
them flavorless and odorless, change the color, harden them,
soften them, make them melt more slowly or rapidly, change the
crystal habit, rearrange their molecular structure, and literally take
them apart and put them back together again to suit our
requirements
• Innovations i.e. neutralization, bleaching, deodorization,
hydrogenation, fractionation, and interesterification have allowed
the production of products that can satisfy demanding functional
and nutritional requirements
• Oils and fats processing always includes some type of purification
to remove impurities i.e. gums, free fatty acids (FFAs), pigments,
metal complexes, and other undesirable materials
• The choice of processing equipment and techniques depend
upon:
1. Type and source of oils handled
2. Quality of raw materials
3. Available manpower
4. Maintenance capabilities
5. Daily processed oil requirements
6. Available financial resources
7. Proximity of crude fats and oils
8. Product marketing philosophy
9. Governmental regulations, and
10. Other considerations
Typical Vegetable Oils & Fats Processing
 Tutorial
• Define vegetable oils and fats
• Explain various usage of vegetable oils
• Explain the structure and composition of fats and oils
• Explain the classification of vegetable oils
• Discuss the FOUR (4) major vegetable oils yields
• Discuss global availability of the FOUR (4) major vegetable oils
• List out THREE (3) ways the fatty acid components attached to a
Triglyceride are distinguished that contribute to its different properties
• List out FIVE (5) adverse effects of Phospholipids of an edible oil
• List out TWO (2) type of Phosphatides and processes of removal for
soybean oil and rapeseed oil
• List out THREE (3) color pigments and processes of removal for oils
& fats
• Discuss the choice of processing equipment and techniques for an
edible oil