Investigation of the effects of bleaching clay particles on the quality and stability of physically refined palm oil

Abstract

This work investigated the effects of bleaching clay particles on the quality and stability of physically refined palm oil. The raw palm oil used in the investigation was obtained from a local palm Oil mill, in Enugu State. The oil was characterized before and after refining and used in the investigation. The result showed that quality of final product of palm oil during and after refining, depends on the conditions of filtration at the bleaching and deodorization stages. The deodorization was done at a temperature of 200oC and at a contact time of eight hours. It was established that colour fixation during deodorization is mainly due to the presence of fine particles in the oil during deodorization and on the decomposition of the oxidation products of aldehydes and ketones at the deodorization temperature of 200oC and above. The stability standard of the refined oil was however, measured in terms of colour, 3.2 Red units, Free Fatty Acid (FFA) 0.12%, Peroxide Value (PV) 3.0 m.eq/kg, Anisidine Value(AV) 4.85 m.eq/kg, Iodine Value (IV) 49, Iron (Fe) 4.3 x 103(Ppm), and Phosphorous content 0.015 (Ppm), all of which were compared with those of the American Oil Chemist Society (AOCS) standard values.