Process for obtaining tocopherol concentrates

摘要

Tocopherol concentrates are obtained from byproducts of the deodorisation of oils and fats by esterifying, by the addition of an alcohol, the free fatty acids contained in these oils and fats, or by distilling off the free fatty acids from the distillates, after which these products are subjected to hydrogenation and subsequent solvent fractionation in order to extract the tocopherols. According to a variant, the free fatty acids contained in the distillates are esterified using polyhydric alcohols which are at least dihydric, after which the product is distilled and the distillate is isolated.