Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Preparing or treating triglyceridic fat or oil – or processes...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-22
2001-01-23
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Preparing or treating triglyceridic fat or oil, or processes...
C426S488000, C426S492000, C426S601000, C554S029000, C203S086000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06177114
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a process of refining edible oil rich in naturally occurring carotenes and Vitamin E whereby substantially a large percentage of the naturally occurring carotenes and Vitamin E is retained in the refined oil. More particularly, the invention relates to a process of refining palm oil whereby substantially a large percentage of the naturally occurring carotenes and Vitamin E is retained in the refined oil.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is a known fact that crude palm oil is rich in carotenes, a class of C
40
polyunsaturated hydrocarbons. Commercially cultivated oil palm yields crude palm oil which contains 500-700 ppm carotenes of which &agr; and &bgr; carotenes comprise 90% of the total carotenes. However, newer clones or new species of oil palm trees can produce crude palm oil with carotene concentrations of 1000-3000 ppm. The carotenes are known to posses pro-vitamin A properties and recent findings have shown that &bgr;-carotene also inhibits tumor progression and hence, reduces cancer formation in animals, including humans. At present, edible palm oil is used in the refined, bleached and deodorized form. However, the refining process of producing refined, bleached and deodorized form of oil commonly adopted in palm oil refining industry results in the carotenes being destroyed, while the oil is being deodorized and deacidified. The refined oil of the prior art process normally has a free fatty acid (FFA) content of less than 0.1%, carotene content of less than 20 ppm and color of less than 3 red in a 5 ¼″ cell (Lovibond Scale). Prior art refining process of crude palm oil in summary involved, deodorizing at temperatures between 240° C.-260° C. and at a pressure of 1-3 torr which processes resulted in not only the removal of unwanted fatty acids, but also all carotenes being destroyed. Moreover, &agr;-, &bgr;-,&ggr;-, and z-(zeta), zeacarotene, cis &agr;-carotene, cis &bgr;-carotene and lycopene are all destroyed.
In prior art plant configurations, degassing of the crude palm oil and deodorizing of the degassed oil is done within the same equipment. The typical operating temperature is between 240° C.-260° C. At these temperature levels, unwanted free fatty acids (FFA) are removed. However, all the carotenes are also broken down. If the operating temperature is lowered, the FFA are not completely removed to meet the specification stipulated for edible oil. The end product is not completely deodorized and the taste is not bland.
In recent times, attempts have been made to produce refined palm oil wherein the naturally occurring carotenes and Vitamin E are retained in substantially large quantities. For example, Australia Patent No. AU-B-31084189 (AU'189) granted to Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia, discloses an improved process for the refining of edible palm oil substantially without destroying the carotenes present in the oil. The prior art process comprises the step of subjecting the oil to a pressure of less then 0.060 Torr and a temperature of less than 200° C. According to this prior art invention, palm oil or a product of palm oil is passed through a deodorizer, preferably at a temperature in the range 100° C.-200° C. and at a pressure in the range of 0.003-0.06 Torr. During this process, the free fatty acids are distilled over and the oil deodorized, but the carotenes are not destroyed. This deodorized palm oil has a free fatty acid content of less than 0.12%. Carotene content and peroxide values are almost the same as before the process. The refined oil has a bland smell. The examples disclosed in the Australia patent are restricted to a laboratory scale. However, on repeating the Australian process on a pilot plant scale or on a commercial plant scale, the FFA and carotene content changed dramatically. It was not possible to obtain yields of refined palm oil with the characteristics disclosed in the AU'189 on a scale greater than simple laboratory amounts, which are less than 10 kg/hr.
It is believed that gas, lights and free fatty acids at the molecular distillation stage create a strain on the distillation process. Increasing the operating temperature at the molecular distiller reduces the level of FFA in the refined oil, but at the same time destroys the carotene content in the oil. At operating temperatures between 100° C.-200° C. and at 0.003-0.060 Torr, all the FFA is not removed due to inefficient removal of condensed FFA in the condensation column.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed in the art is a refining process wherein the FFA are removed to an acceptable level, the oil is deodorized to an acceptable level and the oil is rendered tasteless. Moreover, a refining process is needed wherein the level of the carotene and Vitamin E present in the preprocessed crude palm oil is retained in the refined oil and the crude palm oil is refined at a rate greater than laboratory scale. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a commercial process for the production of refined palm oil rich in natural carotene and Vitamin E. The process for the production of natural carotene rich, refined and deodorized oil includes distilling the oil in a short path distillator at a temperature range of 160° C. to 210° C., and at pressures of 0.003 mbar to 0.08 mbar, and removing free fatty acids (FFA) in the oil by condensation in the distiller. The FFA are removed by subjecting the mixture of the oil and FFA to an internal condenser system operating at a temperature greater than the melting point of FFA in the oil, typically operating at a temperature range of 20° C. to 80° C. The FFA in the oil is removed from the distiller by condensing FFA vapors immediately upon the oil and the vaporized FFA being introduced into the distiller.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
Current refining processes of natural carotene rich and deodorized palm oil are limited to small scale production. Larger scale refining processes do not retain the naturally occurring carotenes and Vitamin E in sufficient quantity to meet regulatory requirements. Surprisingly, it has been found that a commercial scale process, wherein the pretreated crude oil is distilled in a short path distiller at a temperature range between about 160° C. to about 210° C. and pressures between about 0.003 mbar to about 0.08 mbar and wherein free fatty acids (FFA) in the oil are removed by condensation in the distiller produces a refined oil wherein the carotene and Vitamin E content is retained in substantially high level and the oil is produced in a large quantities to be commercially useful.
The present invention provides a palm oil refining process at commercial scale processing rates. The processing rate is the amount of oil (by weight) that is processed over a unit of time. The commercial rate is defined as a rate where the production of refined oil is of a high enough quantity to be commercially useful. As used herein, the commercial rate is between about 100 kg/hr to about 15,000 kg/hr. However, optimum retention of carotenes and Vitamin E would result when the crude oil is refined at a preferred rate of between about 100 kg/hr to about 5,000 kg/hr, and more preferably between about 100 kg/hr to about 2000 kg/hr.
The disclosed method of oil refining makes use of a distiller which comprises a condenser. The condenser system within the distiller incorporates a flow therethrough of tempered water and wherein the temperature of the tempered water is marginally greater than the melting point of FFA.
The oil that is introduced into the distiller unit is preferably preheated to about 160° C. and has preferably been degassed and degummed. This oil can be any of the following including, but not limited to, degummed palm oil, degummed palm olein, degummed palm stearin, degummed palm mid-fraction, degummed super olein, crude palm mid-fraction and crude palm super olein, crude palm olein, crude palm stearin, crude palm oil or hybrid palm oil.
The invention further provides a distille
Carotina SDN. BHD.
Paden Carolyn
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
LandOfFree
Refining of edible oil rich in natural carotenes and Vitamin E does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Refining of edible oil rich in natural carotenes and Vitamin E, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Refining of edible oil rich in natural carotenes and Vitamin E will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2454822