Deodorization of edible oil

Deodorization of edible oil is a crucial step in the refining process. Its purpose is to remove off-odors, free fatty acids, peroxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticide residues from the oil, bringing them down to safe levels. This process also raises the smoke point of the oil, improves its flavor, effectively enhances its safety, and makes the oil clearer, more transparent, and with a purer aroma.

Working principle

Deodorization is a process of removing odorous substances by steam distillation at high temperature and high vacuum by using the great difference in volatility between odorous substances and triglycerides. This process involves not only removing the odor contained in oil, but also removing free fatty acids, peroxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and residual pesticides at the same time, so as to reduce them to a safe level.

Equipment

Deodorizer is the main equipment for deodorizing edible oil, which can be divided into intermittent deodorizing tank, semi-continuous deodorizing tower and continuous deodorizing tower according to the consistency of production. According to the difference of equipment structure, it can be divided into single-shell deodorizer, double-shell deodorizer, shallow tray deodorizer, circulating deodorizer and packed deodorizer. In the internal structure of deodorizer, the depth of contact with oil layer has a considerable influence on the distillation effect during deodorization.