Separation of wax esters from olive oils by high-performance liquid chromatography

To detect adulteration of olive oil with solvent-extracted oils, the determination of the wax ester content has become more important during recent years. Hence, a greater number of wax ester analyses need to be performed by quality control laboratories. The most common method in use requires a liquid chromatographic (LC) separation of the less polar fraction, which contains the wax esters, from the glyceride matter on a hand-filled silica gel column. The aim of this project was to verify the possibility of replacing LC with high-performance liquid chromatography by taking advantage of the greater reliability and repeatability of this technique, as well as of the possibility of making the separation automatic. The paper describes how to perform the analysis and the statistical test that was carried out; furthermore, a comparison has been made with the usual method and results are in good agreement.     

Characterization of the wax precipitation in Mexican crude oils

This paper reports the rheological and thermodynamic characterization of the wax formation phenomenon in three Mexican crude oils where the effect of waxes and asphaltenes content on wax precipitation and rheological behavior of crude oils is evaluated and discussed. Wax appearance temperature is measured by using differential scanning calorimetry, rheometry and densitometry. The wax precipitation curves were obtained by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Pour point temperatures were evaluated according to the ASTM-D97 method, whereas gelation temperatures were determined by rheological experiments made with a controlled-stress rheometer. Waxes of the crude oils were separated and characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The methods used in this work for the wax appearance temperature determination showed to be sensitive to the crude oil composition. Results showed that the presence of asphaltenes impacts significantly the liquid–solid equilibrium and rheological behavior of the crude oils studied whereas the wax melting temperature was a key factor to evaluate the propensity of crude oils to present wax precipitation problems.     

An improved reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography method for separation of fatty acid methyl esters

Resolution of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) by thin-layer chromatography often is complicated by co-migration of certain acyl-isomers in heterogeneous mixtures. However, a novel reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography method which employs 10% (wt/vol) silver nitrate in a mobile phase containing acetonitrile/1,4-dioxane/acetic acid (80:20:1, vol/vol/vol) allows one-dimensional resolution of a wide range of acyl-methyl esters. This innovation enables improved separation of saturated FAME ranging from C₁₂ to C₂₂, and geometric isomers of C₁₄ to C₂₂ unsaturated FAME by thin-layer chromatography.     

High-resolution gas-chromatographic determination of diacylglycerols in common vegetable oils

The gas-chromatographic determination of partial glycerides of sunflower (both high- and low-oleic acid varieties), peanut and extra virgin olive oil was studied with a polar capillary column characterized by its high thermal stability. This column allows for the determination of single diacylglycerols separated as a function of the position occupied by the individual fatty acids on the glycerin backbone as well as by the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids.     

A new method for the determination of wax precipitation from non-diluted crude oils by fractional precipitation

Wax precipitation is one of the most important flow assurance problems. Unfortunately, experimental data are very scarce to confirm existing models for prediction of such precipitation problem. This work reports a new experimental method. Multistage fractional wax precipitation was carried out by decreasing the temperature of crude oil. No solvent dilution was used, so the effect of solvent on temperature wax precipitation was avoided. The reproducibility of the method was tested with comparable results. The precipitation curve and the wax appearance temperature were obtained for two crude oils with different chemical nature using the reported method.     

Fast formation of high-purity methyl esters from vegetable oils

Experiments have confirmed that the base-catalyzed methanolysis of vegetable oils occurs much slower than butanolysis because of the two liquid phases initially present in the former reaction. For the same reason, second-order kinetics are not followed. The use of a cosolvent such as tetrahydrofuran or methyl tertiary butyl ether speeds up methanolysis considerably. However, like one-phase butanolysis, one-phase methanolysis initially exhibits a rapid formation of ester, but then slows drastically. Experiments show that the half-life of the hydroxide catalyst is too long to explain the sudden slowing of the reaction. Similarly, lower rate constants for the methylation of the mono- and diglycerides are not a reasonable explanation. Instead the cause has been identified as the fall in polarity which results from the mixing of the nonpolar oil with the methanol. This lowers the effectiveness of both hydroxide and alkoxide catalysts. Increasing the methanol/oil molar ratio to 27 in the one-phase system raises the polarity such that the methyl ester content of the ester product exceeds 99.4 wt% in 7 min. This has obvious implications for the size of new methyl ester plants as well as the capacity of existing facilities.     

Fast formation of high-purity methyl esters from vegetable oils

Experiments have confirmed that the base-catalyzed methanolysis of vegetable oils occurs much slower than butanolysis because of the two liquid phases initially present in the former reaction. For the same reason, second-order kinetics are not followed. The use of a cosolvent such as tetrahydrofuran or methyl tertiary butyl ether speeds up methanolysis considerably. However, like one-phase butanolysis, one-phase methanolysis initially exhibits a rapid formation of ester, but then slows drastically. Experiments show that the half-life of the hydroxide catalyst is too long to explain the sudden slowing of the reaction. Similarly, lower rate constants for the methylation of the mono- and diglycerides are not a reasonable explanation. Instead the cause has been identified as the fall in polarity which results from the mixing of the nonpolar oil with the methanol. This lowers the effectiveness of both hydroxide and alkoxide catalysts. Increasing the methanol/oil molar ratio to 27 in the one-phase system raises the polarity such that the methyl ester content of the ester product exceeds 99.4 wt% in 7 min. This has obvious implications for the size of new methyl ester plants as well as the capacity of existing facilities.     

Development of steryl ester analysis for the detection of admixtures of vegetable oils

The steryl ester content and composition of 28 samples from 10 vegetable oil types have been determined by isolation of the steryl esters by high-performance liquid chromatography and analysis by gas chromatography. The oils can be classified into oils with a high content (>4000 mg/kg) of steryl esters (corn and rapeseed); oils with a medium content (1400–2400 mg/kg) of steryl esters (sunflower oil and high-oleic sunflower oil); and oils with a low content (<1200 mg/kg) of steryl esters (safflower, soybean, cottonseed, groundnut, olive, and palm oils). The composition of the steryl ester fraction varies to a greater extent for different oil types than for different varieties of the same oilseed. The developed method is promising for authentication of some oils, and is particularly suitable for detecting admixtures of low levels of corn or rapeseed oils.     

A continuous process for the conversion of vegetable oils into methyl esters of fatty acids

A continuous process for the transesterification of triglycerides to methyl esters was investigated in a pilot plant. The process was equipped with a motionless and a high-shear mixer. The experimental studies explored variations in the mixing intensity, stoichiometry, and catalyst concentration on the overall conversion. The combined as well as individual effect of mixers was examined. The developed process resulted in high conversions of vegetable oils into methyl esters. Conversion of triglycerides to methyl esters in excess of 98% was achieved. Larger excess amounts of alcohol favored higher conversions. The motionless and high-shear mixers each provided adequate mixing for the process. Higher catalyst concentrations resulted in higher conversions but increased the solubility of methyl esters in the glycerol layer. This reduced the amount of methyl esters separated by gravity settling. Presented in part at the Third Liquid Fuel Conference, Nashville, September 15–17, 1996.     

Evaluation of nonpolar methyl esters by column and gas chromatography for the assessment of used frying olive oils

The measurement of unaltered methyl esters separated from polar methyl esters by column chromatog-raphy was used to evaluate the alteration of an olive oil that had been used 15 times to fry potatoes. Unaltered methyl ester (the nonpolar fraction) decreased significantly (94.9 ± 0.8%vs 98.2 + 0.5%; p < 0.05), while the polar fraction increased significantly (4.0 ± 0.7%vs 2.1 ± 0.7%; p < 0.05) after 15 fryings. The unrecoverable fraction also increased. In order to avoid column contamination the gas Chromatographic analysis was only done on the nonpolar fractions. Linoleic and oleic acids showed a tendency to decrease while saturated fatty acid tended to increase. The unsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio decreased from an initial value of 7.05 to 6.40 in the last frying. Quantitative gas Chromatographic analysis using both the percentage fatty acid composition and the relative amount of unaltered methyl esters showed a significant oleic acid decrease after 15 fryings (75.8 ± 0.6vs 78.9 ± 0.2 mg/100 mg oil; p < 0.05). To whom correspondence should be addressed     

Oil fractionation as a preliminary step in the characterization of vegetable oils by high-resolution 13C NMR spectroscopy

One hundred nine oil samples were separated chromatographically to obtain oil fractions with a decreased TAG content but with enhanced levels of the minor components that define oil genuineness and quality. The oils, which included virgin olive oils from different cultivars and regions of Europe and north Africa and refined olive, “lampante” olive, refined olive pomace, hazelnut, rapeseed, high-oleic sunflower, corn, grapeseed, soybean, and sunflower oils, were fractionated on a silica gel column with hexane/diethyl ether as the mobile phase eluent. The method was highly reproducible, and the fraction obtained contained about 15% unmodified TAG and 85% polar compounds, which included polymeric TAG, oxidized TAG, DAG, MAG, and FFA, in addition to other minor polar components of the oils. The presence of these compounds, in an enriched fraction, should provide information about the thermal, oxidative, and hydrolytic alterations of the oils, as well as many compounds of interest in determining oil genuineness. The results indicate that these fractions can provide more information than the original oils for NMR or other spectroscopic studies used in the determination of oil quality.     

Production of low molecular weight esters using vegetable oils or butter oil as reaction media

Corn oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, canola oil, olive oil and butter oil were tested as replacements for nonaqueous solvents in the lipase mediated biosynthesis of ethyl butyrate, butyl butyrate, isoamyl butyrate and isoamyl acetate. The most effective oils tested were butter oil, soybean oil, peanut oil and olive oil (yield = 50–60% after 16 h incubation at 25°C) while corn oil was least effective (yield = 38%). Higher yields were obtained, for all ester syntheses, at a reaction temperature of 50°C. Drying agents were shown to have no effect or to inhibit the synthesis. Of the four enzymes tested, Candida cylindracea lipase was the most effective enzyme for ethyl butyrate synthesis.     

A novel method for the determination of acid value of vegetable oils

The voltammetric behavior of naphthoquinone in the presence of free fatty acids (FFA) at the polypyrrole (PPy)‐modified electrode was investigated in an ethanol/1,2‐dichloroethane (3 : 1) solution containing 0.1 M LiClO₄. A well‐defined new reduction peak appeared at a more positive potential and was higher than that obtained at the bare Pt electrode. Based on the fact that the new reduction peak current showed a good correlation with the concentration of fatty acids, an electroanalytical method for the acid value (AV) of vegetable oils was developed using the PPy‐modified electrode in linear potential sweep voltammetry. The experimental parameters were optimized to obtain a sensitive voltammetric response in this work. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the concentration range of 5.0×10^–6–6×10^–3 M for FFA (R = 0.993), with a sensitivity of 2.41×10^–2 A L/mol and a detection limit of 1.2×10^–6 M (S/N = 3). Each assay of vegetable oil sample took about 80 s. The developed method is applied to the AV determination of six commercial vegetable oils. The results well agreed with those obtained by the titration method. Compared to the conventional titration method, the proposed method is superior in sensitivity and accuracy and requires a small amount of vegetable oil sample, with no pretreatment.     

Ethyl esters from the single-phase base-catalyzed ethanolysis of vegetable oils

The effects of alcohol/oil molar ratio, base concentration, and temperature on the single-phase base-catalyzed ethanolyses of sunflower and canola oils were determined. The use of tetrahydrofuran as co-solvent, as well as higher than usual alcohol/substrate molar ratios, prevented glycerol separation. This allowed each reaction to reach equilibrium rather than just steady-state conditions. High conversions of oil lowered the concentrations of MG and DG surfactants in the products, and thereby mitigated the formation of emulsions usually associated with ethanolysis reactions. An alcohol/oil molar ratio of 25∶1, together with the necessary amount of cosolvent, gave optimal results. At this molar ratio, despite equilibrium being achieved, ethanolysis, unlike methanolysis, did not quite produce biodiesel-standard material, the MG content being approximately 1.5 mass%. For methanolysis and 1-butanolysis, the corresponding values were 0.6 and 2.0 mass%, respectively. The use of 1.4 mass% KOH (equivalent to 1.0 mass% NaOH) led to ethanolysis equilibrium within 6–7 min at 23°C rather than 15 min when only 1.0 mass% was used. At 60°C, equilibrium was reached within only 2 min. Soybean and canola oils behaved the same.     

A simple capillary column GC method for analysis of palm oil-based polyol esters

A reliable, simultaneous analysis of palm oil polyol esters using capillary column GC is described. The polyol esters were esterified from palm oil methyl esters (POME) and palm kernel oil methyl esters (PKOME) with trimethylolpropane [2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol; TMP] to produce the biodegradable base oil for lubricant production. Analysis was performed using a high-temperature capillary column, SGE HT5 operated at a temperature gradient of 6°C/min starting from 80 to 340°C. Before injection, the sample was derivatized with N,O-bis (trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide in ethyl acetate at 40°C for at least 10 min. This procedure provides a complete separation of reaction products: TMP, methyl esters, monoesters (ME), diesters (DE), and triesters (TE). As expected, the ME from palm kernel oil was resolved into five major peaks, DE into seven peaks, and TE into 10 peaks. Since no standard was available for this sample, the identities of the peaks were established by a secondary standard that was derived from pure methyl esters. This GC method has made possible the simultaneous determination of reaction product compositions in order to assess the extent of reaction.     

Wax analysis of vegetable oils using liquid chromatography on a double-adsorbent layer of silica gel and silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel

A chromatographic method is described to measure the crystallizable wax content of crude and refined sunflower oil. It can also be applied to any other vegetable oil. The preparative liquid chromatography step on a glass column containing a silica gel adsorbent superimposed upon a silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel support is used to isolate a wax fraction which is then analyzed by gas chromatography. The recovered wax fraction contains, in addition to the crystallizable waxes, hydrocarbons and other compounds with gas chromatographic retention times corresponding to waxes with chain lengths C₃₄−C₄₂. These compounds are short-chain saturated waxes in fruit oils, such as grapeseed and pomace. In seed oils such as sunflower, soybean or peanut, the compounds initially referred to as “soluble esters” are identified as monounsaturated waxes, esters of long-chain saturated fatty acids, and a monounsaturated alcohol, mainly eicosenoic alcohol. Such waxes are absent from corn or rice bran oils.     

不同植物油脂在近临界水中水解反应动力学的比较

系统地测定了压力10 MPa、温度170℃～240℃范围内橄榄油、花生油、大豆油、红花油等植物油脂在近临界水中无催化水解反应动力学数据。实验结果表明,近临界水中油脂水解反应是一个典型的自催化反应,采用二级自催化反应动力学模型对动力学数据进行了拟合,得到了橄榄油、花生油、大豆油、红花油等四种植物油脂的水解反应活化能分别为41.8 kJ/mol、37.3 kJ/mol、37.7 kJ/mol、31.2 kJ/mol。油脂水解活化能与其碘价密切相关,随着油脂碘价的增加,水解活化能逐渐降低。