Influence of Industrial Processing on Physiochemical Characteristics of Soybean Oil and Deodorizer Distillates

The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of industrial processing (neutralization/degumming, bleaching, and deodorization) on physicochemical characteristics of soybean oil and soybean oil deodorizer distillate (SBO-DD) collected from two different industries. The substantial impact of processing was observed on all physicochemical parameters except the iodine value (IV) and saponification value (SV). Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analytical techniques were used for the quantification of individual fatty acids, sterols, and 3-monochloropropane diol (3-MCPD) ester. Among the fatty acids, palmitic and linoleic acids were present at higher concentrations in all processing stages. Among sterols, beta-sitosterol was found to be higher (25.65 mu g/g) in crude soybean oil and reduced to 16.44 mu g/g after processing till the final deodorization stage. 3-MCPD ester was developed during the neutralization/degumming process and further increased during bleaching and deodorization up to 315 mu g/kg, respectively. SBO-DD was found to be a rich source of total and individual sterols as compared to crude or processed soybean oil. High free fatty acid (FFA) level in deodorizer distillate indicated that SBO-DD is a potential source of biodiesel production.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the impact of industrial processing on soybean oil and soybean oil deodorizer distillate, finding significant effects on physicochemical parameters and indicating SBO-DD as a rich source of sterols and a potential resource for biodiesel production.