A COMPARATIVE-STUDY BETWEEN BIOREFINING COMBINED WITH OTHER PROCESSES AND PHYSICAL REFINING OF HIGH-ACID MOHUA OIL

The biorefining process under optimum conditions deacidified the high-acid mohua oil by nearly 85% with considerable improvement of color. The process, in combination with alkali-refining, bleaching and deodorization, yielded excellent oil with respect to color, unsaponifiable matter content and triglyceride content. The combination of biorefining and physical refining significantly reduced the loss of oil, and the color, unsaponifiable matter and diglyceride content increased while triglyceride content decreased. The physical refining process alone, on the other hand, produced oil with considerably darker color, increased unsaponifiable matter and diglycerides, and decreased triglyceride. Biorefining followed by alkali-refining, bleaching and deodorizing steps or by physical refining can be regarded as a much better alternative refining process than the physical refining process alone for oils of high acidity.