EKB 4343

VEGETABLE OIL MILLING &

REFINING PROCESSING

CHAPTER 1
PREPARED BY:
NUR ATIKAH MOHIDEM
 Introduction
Vegetable oil are obtained from beans or seeds which
produce two valuable commodities (oil and protein
source).
Method of seed extraction: pressing and/or solvent
extraction.
Pressing process: oil extracted from palm and olive due
to soft fruit (endosperm).
Refining process:
a) To remove undesirable materials such as
phospholipids, monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols,
free acid, colour and pigments, oxidised materials,
flavour components, trace metals and sulfur
compounds.
Table 1: Methods of changing fatty acid composition and physical,
nutritional and chemical properties thereby
Technological solutions
Blending
Distillation
Fractionation
Hydrogenation
Interesterification with chemical catalysts
Interesterification with specific lipases
Enzymic enhancement

Biological solutions
Domestication of wild crops
Oils modified by conventional seed breeding
Oils modified by (intra-species) genetic engineering
Lipids from unconventional sources (micro-organisms)
 Palm oil and palm kernel oil: fractionation
Soybean oil and rape seed oil: light
hydrogenation (brush hydrogenation), to reduce
the level of linolenic acid and extend shelf life.
Brush hydrogenation: partial hydrogenation to
unsaturated liquid oils to produce semi-solid fats
that can be used in margarines. From this
process, the level of polyunsaturated fatty acids
reduced, saturated acid content rises slightly.
 Classification of vegetable
oil
Type Content
By products Cotton and corn primarily for fibre and cereal
respectively. Soybean yields meal (79%) and
oil (18%).
Tree corps Palm, coconut, and olive oils obtained from
trees as it matured. For palm oil, the palm
can crops for 25-30 years. These corps
cannot be changed on a yearly basis
Annual Rape, sun flower and linseed. The crops can
corps be harvested annual basis and also depends
on the planter as well. It also based on
agricultural and economic factors.
 Table 2: Four major vegetable oils as % of total oil and fat production

1976/ 1986/ 1999/ 2000/ 2016/

80 90 00 10 20
Soybean oil 21.3 20.2 22.0 22.9 20.2
Palm and palm 7.9 13.8 20.0 24.0 26.3
kernel oil
Rapeseed oil 5.7 9.9 12.0 12.1 12.3
Sunflower seed oil 8.0 9.6 8.7 8.5 9.2
 Soybean oil
Produced in largest quantity and second to palm
oil in traded oil.
Major producers of soybean oil: US, Brazil,
Argentina, China, EU-15

*Million tonnes
 Palm oil
Largest oil traded with 44% of all oil and fat
exports. Production and exports are dominated by
Malaysia (51% palm oil production), Indonesia
(63% palm oil exports).
Indonesia has high population and more
agricultural than Malaysia.
Main importers are India, EU-15, China and
Pakistan.

*Million tonnes
 Rapeseed/canola oil
Produced mainly in China, EU-15, India, Canada
and Japan
Only 12% of the oil then exported mainly from
Canada which accounts 48% of all rapeseed oil
exports.
The major importers is the US.

*Million tonnes
 Sunflower seed oil
Major producers are the former USSR, EU-15 and
Argentina.
About 27% of the oil is exported mainly from
Argentina

*Million tonnes
 Palm kernel oil
Malaysia and Indonesia are the major producers
and exporters, with EU-15 and US are the major
importing countries.

*Million tonnes
PROCESSING AND REFINING
EDIBLE OILS
Why processing: remove component of edible oils
which may have negative effects on taste,
stability, appearance or nutritional value.
Furthermore, by processing it should preserve
tocopherols and prevent changes in the
triacyglycerols.
 Storage
Quality of raw material is influenced by the
moisture content of oil seeds and nuts
In rural area, the seeds and nuts are sun dried to
reduce the moisture below 10% with adequate
ventilation to ensure low microbial activity.
Perishable raw materials such as palm fruit
should be processed after been harvested.
Humid countries: sun drying is slow and
inefficient. Such conditions promote mould
growth which results in high free fatty acid levels
and poor organoleptic qualities.
 Pre-treatment
Sterilization and heat treatment by steaming
or boiling, inactivates lipolytic enzymes which
cause rapid degradation of the oil thus facilitates
the pulping of the mesocarp for oil extraction.
Digestor: sterilised palm fruits are pulped in
wooden pestle and mortar. The shell separates
from the oil bearing portion of the raw material
and eliminates material with low nutritional value.
As for oil seeds and nuts: heat treated by
roasting to liquefy the oil in the plant cells and
facilitate its release during extraction.
 Extraction
Milled seed: is mixed with hot water and boiled to
allow to float and skimmed off (as emulsion).
Groundnut: salt is added to coagulate the protein and
enhance oil separation.
Rotating pestle powered by motor/humans/animals to
apply friction and pressure to extract oil from oil seeds.
Plate or piston in a cylinder: to press oil from the
milled or pulped oil. The oil is collected below the
perforated chamber.
Mechanical expellers: the pre-heated raw material is
fed into the cylinder, with adequate pressure inside the
cylinder ruptures the oil cells to release the oil.
 Dehydration
Boiling: traces of water in crude oil are removed
after settling.

Pressed cakes
Pressed cake: by product (solid material).
Cakes from water extracted oil: no nutrients.
Figure 1: Comparison between physical and chemical refining
 TUTORIAL
Define vegetable oil [4M]
Provide an example of technological and biological
solutions [6M]
Define brush hydrogenation [2M]
Explain the classification of vegetable oil [6M]
List out FOUR (4) major vegetable oil productions
[4M]
List out the steps involved in processing in an
edible oils [5M]
Discuss the processing and refining involved of an
edible oils [15M]