Winterization of oils and fats

The process of winterization consists of fractional crystallization of oils and fats followed by the separation of solids to make high quality salad oils. To design a winterization process, the rate of cooling of oil, the temperature of crystallization and the mobility of triglyceride molecules in the oil mass are crucial. These variables play a significant role both in separating the solid fats as distinct crystals and facilitating their filtration from the oil. Thus, the main emphasis in this paper is on the effect of the above variables on the performance of the winterization process. Presented at the AOCS short course held April 21–23 1980, Lake Kiamesha, NY.