ADSORPTION OF SOY OIL FREE FATTY-ACIDS BY RICE HULL ASH

Studies demonstrated that free fatty acids can be adsorbed from a soybean oil/hexane miscella by inorganic rice hull ash. A 1% dose was effective in diminishing free fatty acid concentrations but acid activation reduced the adsorption. Binding of free fatty acids followed a Freundlich isotherm with smaller doses of ash adsorbing more efficiently. Addition of isopropanol to the miscella promoted the adsorption, while water deactivation of the ash had no effect, possibly because water occupied sites not accessible to free fatty acids. Impaired adsorption behavior of ash heated above 700°C could have been due to disruption of the crystal form. The adsorption behavior of rice hull ash may be more fully understood with a better knowledge of adsorbent structure. © 1990, The American Oil Chemists’ Society. All rights reserved.