OILS AND FATS

History:
Before the first permanent settlements, nutrient oils came from
insects, animals, nuts and grains. Nomadic people learned to render
fat from animals and how to use it for cooking and to preserve foods
with a combination of fat, smoking and sun drying.
Once villages were established the technology of extracting oils by
heat and pressure was quickly adopted and oils were extracted from
oily fruits (olives, mainly, and perhaps sunflower seeds) as well as
animals. Properly processed oils and fats could be stored much
longer than the perishables they were extracted from and could tide
a village over times of food shortage.
History (Continued)…
Even so, most communities had only a single dominant type
of oil and little else. Modern technology and transportation
have provided us with a wealth of flavors for a wide choice
for different cooking methods and for health. The health
part, however, has become highly controversial
 COCONUT OIL
Introduction:
Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or
meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos
nucifera). Because of its high saturated fat content, it is slow to
oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to six
months at 24 °C (75 °F) without spoiling.
Due to its high levels of saturated fat, the world health organizations
and other health associated departments advise that coconut oil
consumption be limited or avoided.
 Production
Coconut oil can be extracted through dry or wet processing.

Dry Process
Dry processing requires that the meat be extracted from the shell
and dried using fire, sunlight, or kilns to create copra. The copra is
pressed or dissolved with solvents, producing the coconut oil and a
high-protein, high-fiber mash. The mash is of poor quality for
human consumption and is instead fed to ruminants; there is no
process to extract protein from the mash.
Wet Process
Fresh coconut meat is procured from local supplier. The process
begins with the mechanical pressing of coconut grated to obtain
coconut milk. The coconut milk is then chilled to 10°C to break the
emulsion for easier water and coconut butter separation.
The chilled coconut milk is transferred to a mixing vessel where it is
churned until coconut butter is heated to 45°C followed by
centrifugation to separate the non-oil fraction from the product
Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO). Finally the product is filtered to remove
any suspended solid
FLOW DIAGRAM
FOR WET
PROCESS
 PROCESSING
Processing involves the following steps

• Refining
• Bleaching
• Hydrogenation
• Deodorizing
Refining and Bleaching
The oil is degummed by coagulation with a small amount of
concentrated Phosphoric acid. In the alkali refining method the
free fatty acids in oil is neutralized using excess 0.1% NaOH
solution.
The gums and soaps are removed by centrifugation and the fatty
acids are recovered by acidulation.

Furthermore, Bleaching removes any extra color of the oil. It is

done to make the oil attractive to the eyes.
Hydrogenation
Coconut oil can be processed further into partially or fully hydrogenated oil
to increase its melting point. Since virgin and RBD coconut oils melt at 24 °C
(76 °F), foods containing coconut oil tend to melt in warm climates. A higher
melting point is desirable in these warm climates, so the oil is
hydrogenated. The melting point of hydrogenated coconut oil is 36–40 °C
(97–104 °F).
In the process of hydrogenation, unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fatty acids) are combined with hydrogen in a catalytic
process to make them more saturated. Coconut oil contains only 6%
monounsaturated and 2% polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the partial
hydrogenation process, some of these are transformed into trans fatty
acids.
Deodorization
Deodorization is accomplished by drawing superheated steam through the
oil (while it is still hot) under a high vacuum of 138 to 800 Pa and 210 to 275
degree Celsius. This removes most of the odor-causing compounds and
also destroys many of the color producing pigments present.

Final packaging is often done under a nitrogen atmosphere to prevent any

further oxidation.