Effect of physical refining on selected minor components in vegetable oils

The final quality of vegetable oils is largely determined by the deodorization process. From an organoleptic point of view, oils should be light in color with a bland taste and a good cold and/or oxidative stability. Today, however, more and more attention is paid to the real nutritional quality. Oils should contain low trans fatty acid levels, low polymeric triglycerides, and secondary oxidation products and at the same time being rich in natural antioxidants. In order to comply to these new quality requirements, the deodorization technology has been modified substantially. Mathematical models were established describing the influence of different process parameters (time, temperature, steam, and pressure) on trans fatty acid formation, tocopherol stripping, and production of oxidized and polymeric triacylglycerides during physical refining of soybean oil. Trans fatty acid (TFA) formation was influenced only by time and temperature. No significant influence of pressure or sparging steam could be observed. Models expressing the relative degree of cis/trans-isomerization of linoleic (DI_18:2) and α-linolenic acid (DI_18:3) could be extrapolated to other oils and deodorizer designs. Tocopherol removal was mainly influenced by process temperature and sparging steam. Additionally, tocopherol retention seemed to be dependent on the deodorizer design (steam injection geometry and sparging steam distribution). During physical refining, oxidized and polymerized triacylglycerols were not significantly influenced by any of the investigated process parameters. Industrially, process conditions are adapted to minimize trans fatty acid formation and maximize tocopherol retention. These goals can be achieved in a so-called DUAL TEMP^copy; deodorizer.