Refining Vegetable Oils: Chemical and Physical Refining

This review presents recent technologies involved in vegetable oil refining as well as quality attributes of crude oils obtained by mechanical and solvent extraction. Usually, apart from virgin oils, crude oils cannot be consumed directly or incorporated into various food applications without technological treatments (refining). Indeed, crude oils like soybean, rapeseed, palm, corn, and sunflower oils must be purified or refined before consumption. The objective of such treatments (chemical and physical refining) is to get a better quality, a more acceptable aspect (limpidity), a lighter odor and color, longer stability, and good safety through the elimination of pollutants while minimizing oil loss during processing. However, the problem is that refining removes some essential nutrients and often generates other undesirable compounds such as 3-MCPD-esters and trans-fatty acids. These compounds directly influence the safety level of refined oil. Advantages and drawbacks of both chemical and physical refining were discussed in the light of recent literature. Physical refining has several advantages over chemical one.

Physicochemical features, functional characteristics, and health benefits of cottonseed oil: a review

Vegetable oils have their specific physicochemical properties due to which they are playing vital role in human nutritional diet for health benefits. Cottonseed oil is obtained from various species of cotton seeds that are famous to be grown mainly for their fiber quality. The most prominently used specie is Gossypium hirsutum. It is obvious that the seeds of different variety of cotton vary as grown in diverse agroclimatic conditions with respect to oil, fats and protein contents. Cottonseed oil is routinely used for cooking and food manufacturing products. Cottonseed oil obtained after proper extraction/processing steps from crude state to refined oil in a variety of ways. Cotton crop is considered for their dual-use purpose, for fiber quality and oil production to promote health benefits in the world. Keeping in view the above facts, this review clearly demonstrated an overview about physicochemical and functional properties of cottonseed oil to promote health benefits associated with the use of this oil. The overall characteristics and all concerned health benefits of CSO will further improve their usefulness is a compact way. We have summarized a brief multi-dimensional features of CSO in all aspects up to the best of our knowledge for the end researchers who can further research in the respective aspect.

Chemistry and Functionality of Cold-Pressed Macadamia Nut Oil

The rising trend in the consumption of healthy, safe, and functional foods has motivated studies on cold-pressed specialty oils, including macadamia nut oil. Cold-pressed macadamia nut oil (CPMO) is given preference by consumers over solvent extracted and refined oil because of its exceptional quality attributes and safety. This review contains a detailed presentation of the chemical properties, health benefits, and applications of CPMO. The monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid and palmitoleic acid) rich oil also contains a significant concentration of bioactive phytochemicals including, β-sitosterol, α-tocopherol, α-tocotrienols, ρ-hydroxybenzoic acid, and caffeic acid. Moreover, the oil has good oxidative stability. The highlighted properties offer CPMO health benefits related to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and neurodegenerative diseases. The fatty acid composition of CPMO allows for its diverse application in the food, cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Comparative Physiochemical Analysis of Kachi Ghani, Solvent Oil and refined Oil Extracted from Brassica nigra

Brassica nigra or black mustard is traditionally used in various states of India from the ages. It is being commercially used in the form of kachi ghani, solvent oil (non-edible), and refined oil. Due to the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of kachi ghani mustard oil, it is considered to be of better quality. On the other hand, literatures also state that refined oil is better due to the purification processes. There is ambiguity regarding quality aspects of these three oil fractions. Therefore, the present study was planned for the comparative analysis the quality and physiochemical characterization of kachi ghani, solvent and refined oil. Commercially free fatty acids value, acid value, color, presence of argemone, pungency of oil and content of various monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids is determined to check quality of commercial grade edible oils. In consequence, it was observed that kachi ghani consists of less free fatty acids (0.37±0.02%), less acid value (0.74±0.04mg/g) and high pungency (0.279%) as compared to solvent and refined oil. Kachi ghani embrace more natural color (32.0 units) in comparison to solvent oil which was way darker and refined oil which was very light. The percentage of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids was spotted to be 6.44%, 64.360% and 28.64% respectively in kachi ghani oil. The study shows that saturated fatty acids such as palmitic C-16, stearic C-18, behanic C-22 and lignoceric C-24 were present in kachi ghani. In solvent oil, palmitic C-16, stearic C-18, behanic C-22, and lignoceric C-24 were found whereas only palmitic acid was present in refined oil. High content of monounsaturated fatty acids were found in oil. Eicosenoic C-20:1, Oleic C-18:1, Eurcic C 22:1 and Nervonic C-24:1 unsaturated fatty acid was found in all the three fractions of oil.

Assessing Hybrid Solar-Wind Potential for Industrial Decarbonization Strategies: Global Shift to Green Development

The global energy mix is shifting from fossil fuels to combinations of multiple energy storage and generation types. Hybrid energy system advancements provide opportunities for developing and deploying innovative green technology solutions that can further reduce emissions and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This study examined the impact of an increasing share of wind and solar electricity production on reducing carbon intensity by controlling coal and lignite domestic consumption and the production of refined oil products in a world aggregated data panel. Data covering the last three decades were used for the analysis by the ARDL bounds testing approach. The results showed that an increasing share of wind and solar electricity production would be helpful to decrease carbon intensity in the short and long term. On the other hand, a 1% increase in coal and domestic lignite consumption increased carbon intensity by 0.343% in the short run and 0.174% in the long run. The production of refined oil products decreases carbon intensity by 0.510% in the short run and 0.700% in the long run. However, refining oil products is associated with positive and negative environmental externalities. The positive aspect depends upon the removal of harmful pollutants and the production of cleaner-burning fuels, while the negative part is related to the operational side of refineries and processing plants that may release contaminants into the atmosphere, affecting global air and water quality. Hence, it is crucial to improve processing and refining capacity to produce better-refined oil products by using renewable fuels in energy production. It is proposed that these are the most cost-effective pathways to achieve industrial decarbonization.

Experimental analysis on the optimal excitation wavelength for fine-grained identification of refined oil pollutants on water surface based on laser-induced fluorescence

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is an effective, all-weather oil spill identification method that has been widely applied for oil spill monitoring. However, the distinguishability on oil types is seldom considered while selecting excitation wavelength. This study is intended to find the optimal excitation wavelength for fine-grained classification of refined oil pollutants using LIF by comparing the distinguishability of fluorometric spectra under various excitation wavelengths on some typical types of refined-oil samples. The results show that the fluorometric spectra of oil samples significantly vary under different excitation wavelengths, and the four types of oil applied in this study are most likely to be distinguished under the excitation wavelengths of 395 nm and 420 nm. This study is expected to improve the ability of oil types identification using LIF method without increasing time or other cost, and also provides theoretical basis for the development of portable LIF devices for oil spill identification.