Fractionation through crystallization and its characterization of refined palm oil.

Fractionation through crystallization and its characterization of refined palm oil (RPO) to fractionate the palm oil into olein (liquid fraction) and stearin (solid fraction) is a sustainable method. The effect of crystallization temperature and time on fractionation efficiency and on the physicochemical properties was studied. A CF melt crystallizer was employed for controlled crystallization of refined palm oil at different temperatures and times.
Crystallization process was very effective for the separation of palm oil into olein and stearin fractions and low temperature and longer crystallization time increased the yield as well as the purity of the stearin fraction. Analytical techniques such as iodine value, HPLC, GC, DSC and FTIR were applied to elucidate the structural and compositional variations in fractions.
Determination of the iodine value confirmed a selective enrichment of saturation fatty acids in the stearin fraction and of unsaturated fatty acids in the olein fraction. HPLC results, indicating a good fractionation, revealed differences in the triacylglycerol composition, mainly for crucial components such as POP Stearin at 5°C 72hr has been increased compared to Refined palm oil (22.67 %) and POO have been decreased to (7.38%). These findings were also confirmed by GC, which showed differences in the fatty acid profiles of the fractions palmitic acid stearin has been increased compared to Refined palm oil (18.85%) Oleic acid has been decreased to (1.08%). While the FTIR analysis confirmed the existence of different functional groups with chemical modifications, the DSC experiments revealed that the Melting point of stearin has been increased compared to RPO and thermal behavior were different.
Solvent-free crystallization was found to be an effective and green method for the fractionation of palm oil. The relevance of temperature and time as key parameters that influence the crystallization process and the quality of the product underscored its potential as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional solvent-based methods.