High temperature vacuum steam distillation process to purify and increase the frylife of edible oils.

摘要

Deaerated oil having a level of less than about 0.10% by volume of dissolved oxygen is heated at a temperature between about 530 DEG F (277 DEG C) and about 650 DEG F (343 DEG C) and stripped with a stripping medium with a molar ratio of stripping medium to oil of between about 0.05 and about 9.7, at an absolute pressure of between about 0.5 mm Hg and about 50 mm Hg., for a time of between about 5 seconds and about 15 minutes. The combination of stripping parameters is selected so that the stripping factor "f" is greater than about 0.6, where f = KPvS/PO, where K is between about 1 and about 200, and where Pv (the vapor pressure of the component to be stripped) is not more than about 0.1 mm Hg at 500 DEG F (277 DEG C) and not more than about 2.0 mm Hg at 600 DEG F (343 DEG C). This vacuum steam stripping at very high temperatures for short residence times improves the frylife of the edible oil while minimizing undesirable thermally induced side reactions such as polymerizaton, trans-isomerization and hydrolysis.