SEPARATION of CHOLESTEROL FROM BUTTEROIL USING QUILLAJA SAPONINS. 1. EFFECTS of PH, CONTACT TIME and ADSORBENT

The technical feasibility of separating cholesterol from butteroil by contacting it with aqueous solutions of Quillaja saponaria saponins followed by separation of the cholesterol-saponin complex was studied. Alternative processes and controls compared were (1) Water Control (W): butteroil was contacted with pure water; (2) Reaction (R): butteroil was contacted with aqueous solution of saponins; (3) Adsorption Control (A): butteroil was contacted with water, diatomaceous earth was then added; (4) Reaction + Adsorption (R+A): diatomaceous earth was added to the Reaction medium (from 2); (5) Reaction + Washing (R+W): the aqueous phase resulting from Reaction (2) was discarded and pure water contacted with the fat. the last step in all the above processes and controls was the separation of the fat phase where cholesterol was determined. Statistical analysis indicated that the Adsorption Control did not yield any significant cholesterol reduction over the Water Control, while all other processes gave significant reduction. the order of cholesterol separation observed was R+A > R+W > R. the levels of cholesterol reduction were significantly affected by pH of quillaja solution and amount of adsorbent used; the time of contact with quillaja solution had no significant effect over the range investigated. These results indicate the technical feasibility of reducing the cholesterol levels of butteroil using food grade quillaja saponins.