Palm oil is a common vegetable oil, which is widely used in food, cosmetics and industry. However, the original palm oil usually contains impurities and bad smell, so it needs to be refined to improve its quality and applicability. The palm oil refining process is usually divided into the following key steps:

2. Degumming

Degumming is the first step of palm oil refining, which aims to remove phospholipids and other colloidal substances from oil. By adding water or dilute acid, colloid will form a precipitate and then be removed by centrifugation. This step is helpful to improve the stability of oil and lay the foundation for the subsequent process.

2. Deacidification

The purpose of deacidification is to remove free fatty acids (FFA) to reduce the acid value of palm oil. The commonly used method is alkali refining, that is, alkali liquor (such as sodium hydroxide) is added to the oil, which reacts with free fatty acids to generate soapstock, and then it is removed by separation. This step can improve the quality of oil and prolong its shelf life.

3. Decolorization

Decolorization is to remove pigments and other impurities in palm oil and make its color clearer. Pigment is usually adsorbed by adding activated clay or activated carbon at high temperature, and then the adsorbent is filtered out. This process ensures that the appearance of refined oil is more attractive, while eliminating substances that may affect the flavor.

4. Deodorization

Some volatile substances in palm oil can cause bad smell, so it needs deodorization. Deodorization is usually carried out by steam distillation, and the odor substances are taken away by steam under high temperature and vacuum conditions. This process not only improves the smell of oil, but also further removes the residual free fatty acids.

5. Divide (optional)

For some specific purposes, palm oil also needs to be fractionated. This step is to separate palm oil into solid part (stearin) and liquid part (soft fat) by cooling and crystallization. Stearic oil is often used to make margarine and cakes, while soft fat is used in edible oil and other food processing.

Palm oil refining process is a complex and important process, which can significantly improve the quality, stability and application scope of oil. Through scientific and reasonable refining technology, palm oil can not only meet the high standard requirements of food industry, but also be widely used in daily chemical, medicine and other fields, showing its irreplaceable economic value.