Preface

It was my desire to introduce the second edition of the book because of the
introduction of certain newer techniques in vegetable oil processing. These are
discussed in various chapters in this book.
The first edition of this book was received well by the readers. Many readers
asked when the second edition of the book would be published. I also received
requests from readers to include the processing practices for palm oil, coconut
oil, cottonseed oil, and sesame seed oil, as these are important vegetable oils.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to do so. The reason for their exclusion is that
the basic principles and practices described in this book do apply to most veg-
etable oil processing operations. Additionally, the volume of information would
have been too large to be included a single book.
Vegetable oil processing is an essential part of the food industry. Current
unit operations have been developed over many years by processors and equip-
ment manufacturers, with the assistance of universities and federal laboratories.
Public universities have changed over time, resulting in the current emphasis
on programs that meet the prevailing business needs. In today’s market, the
vegetable oil processing industry does not offer enough jobs to warrant a more
detailed training of future technical personnel. The size of oil processing pro-
grams, where they exist at all, depends on local initiatives in attracting and
maintaining sufficient numbers of students and external funding of research.
For this reason, Texas A&M University, Cornell University, Purdue University,
Iowa State University, University of Illinois, University of Florida, and Ohio
State University are among the few exceptions, although most of these institu-
tions have much stronger Food Technology and Food Engineering curriculum
than programs on fats and oils.
The majority of these graduating students prefer food manufactures because
of job availability, while only a few find employment in the vegetable oil refin-
ing industry.
Pioneers in the vegetable oil processing industry in the United States were
Durkee, Procter & Gamble, Anderson Clayton, Hunt Wesson, Humko, Unilever,
A.E. Staley Co., and Corn Products Co. These companies were very strong in
their research and development activity. They maintained product and process
development activities that trained fresh university graduates in chemistry
and chemical engineering in processing and applications of vegetable oils and
animal fats.

xvii
xviii Preface

The oil companies in the United States were mostly stand-alone refiners,
that is, they purchased crude oils from the crushers and processed them to make
various products. They had their own pilot plants that facilitated the training
programs in the area of oil processing. The fresh recruits could get hands-on
experience in oil processing and product formulation. This was done primarily
through project assignments to the newcomers. Some of these companies also
had well-established training programs to provide the necessary tools to their
technical recruits in oil processing and product formulation.
Numerous changes have taken place in the oil-processing industry in the
United States since the 1970s:
1. The oil crushers, such as Archer Daniels & Midland Co., Cargill Co., and
Bunge Corporation realized that it was more profitable to integrate their
crushing operation with the refinery. They started to refine their own oil,
in addition to selling the crude oil to the stand-alone refiners. They soon
entered the market with packaged fats and oils products initially through
acquisitions and later by building their own facilities. They expanded their
R&D capabilities and now have become well established in the area where
many stand-alone refiners filled the industry needs.
2. Oil prices soared in the mid-1970s during the Middle East oil embargo,
causing a serious blow to the stand-alone refiners.
3. The stand-alone refiners started to see declining profit margins on their
products because they could not match the production and reduced cost of
production of the integrated crusher refiners.
4. As the competition grew from the crusher refiners, the R&D activity in the
stand-alone refineries declined seriously due to lack of funds.
5. Some of these stand-alone refiners started to provide copacking services
to the crusher refiners as they entered the consumer product market. Soon,
some of these companies were bought out by the crusher refiners and sub-
sequently either upgraded or disbanded.
6. Eventually, many of the stand-alone refiners either closed down or were
bought out by the crusher refiners or other food companies.
7. Some of the stand-alone refiners switched their product lines to go into a
niche market where the large crusher refiners were not competing.
8. Initially the crusher refiners were not up to speed with the R&D work.
9. The oil-processing equipment manufacturers picked up the slack and start-
ed to offer the technology needed for the oil refineries.
10. During this period the USDA laboratories remained active in the oil re-
search field.
11. Universities, such as Texas A&M and Iowa State University, became active
in providing pilot plant services to the oil industry.
12. Independent facilities, such as the POS pilot plant in Canada, became avail-
able as a source of basic, as well as applied research work in fats and oils.
13. A.C. Humko of Memphis, Tennessee, United States, offered pilot plant
services to the oil companies.
 Preface xix

These changes in the vegetable oil industry essentially eliminated opportuni-

ties for on-the-job training of fresh college graduates in fats and oils technology
in the manner that was possible prior to 1970. Very few individuals from that era
are still working for major oil refiners. A few are working as consultants, but a
great majority of them have either retired or are deceased.
I am probably one of the few fortunate ones who received training in fats
and oils at Procter & Gamble Co. and am still around to talk about my expe-
rience. The company hired fresh engineering graduates from the universities.
Every new engineer hired received training through the assignment of projects.
The new recruit had to go through the following steps:
1. The engineer was assigned a project.
2. The engineer prepared a project proposal that contained the following
elements:
a. project objective,
b. experimental plan,
c. data to be collected,
d. analytical and product testing to be performed,
e. duration of the project,
f. list of all internal resources, and
g. list of all internal R&D reports on related topics.
3. The proposal had to be approved by the immediate supervisor and the
Director.
4. At the end of the project the engineer had to write a formal report that had to
be approved by the Director.
5. A copy of the report was kept in the company archive for future reference.
6. The project could then be officially closed.
7. If the product required any plant trial, a completely new proposal had to be
initiated by the engineer with all pertinent information of cost, besides the
objective.
8. The product performance had to be proven through several tests, such as
market sample data collection and analysis, customer complaint data, prod-
uct storage study, and consumer tests.
9. At the end of the study another report had to be prepared, approved, and
archived as before.
I am not aware of such a rigorous training program that might be available
anywhere today.
In this book, I will make my best effort to explain why certain processing
steps are considered necessary. I will also provide adequate theoretical explana-
tions to the readers so they can appreciate the significance of the steps taken in a
vegetable oil processing. It might not be possible to cover every detail or I might
even leave certain material out of this book to protect any proprietary informa-
tion that I have gathered during my tenure at various companies. I believe that
the readers will find the information provided in this book to be useful.
xx Preface

In recognition, I would like to express my appreciation to Late Robert L.

Wille and Cornelius Japikse, my original mentors at Procter & Gamble Co., for
training me during the early days of my career. I also am indebted to Late Walter
E. Farr and the Late Dr. Thomas H. Smouse for their support in advancing my
career in oil processing and applications at Anderson Clayton Co. My sincere
appreciation also goes to my wife, Mina Gupta, for her untiring encouragement
to write this book. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to the reviewers
of the various chapters of this book in spite of their busy schedules.
Finally, a trend is developing in the area of technical communication, which
serves as a reminder that we must all be critical thinkers. There are some trade
journals, as well as some technical journals, that now publish editorial reviews
of scientific and technical issues written by the editors or the assistant editors,
who gather information and compile a presentation. While the information has
been gathered through speaking with experts in the field, and references are
clearly made to the persons providing the information, there are times when
this information is not absolutely accurate. Although I am sure no publication
intentionally publishes erroneous information, it runs the risk of misleading or
confusing less-experienced readers. In my opinion, we should look carefully at
once again relying on experts in the field to provide not only original research
but also these critical reviews to ensure we are providing a solid scientific foun-
dation for readers.