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Effects of chemical refinement on the quality of coconut oil

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Abstract

Refinement is usually used to remove undesired components to improve coconut oil quality. In the present study, crude coconut oil (CCO) was refined in four stages: conventional degumming, neutralization, bleaching, and deodorization. Physiochemical indices during the refinement were evaluated: peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid (FFA), fatty acid composition; fat composition; triacylglycerol profile, micronutrient (e.g., tocopherols and sterols) and contaminant (e.g., 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPD esters), and glycidyl esters (GEs) levels. Compared to CCO, the quality of refined oil was improved by reducing PV and FFA levels. No significant changes in triacylglycerol compositions were found during refinement. However, unsaturated fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acids were decreased after refinement. Also, some micronutrients like tocopherol and sterol were decreased from 12.39 to 0.10 mg/kg and from 679.69 to 426.50 mg/kg, respectively. The undesired contaminants, i.e., 3-MCPD esters and GEs, increased markedly during refinement.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31872895), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2017M621635), the Fund of “Shanghai Technological Innovation Action Plan: Technical standard project (2018 No. 18DZ2200300) and the national first-class discipline program of Food Science and Technology (JUFSTR20180202).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Joint Research Laboratory for Lipid Nutrition and Safety, Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Ruijie Liu, Xin Guo, Min Cheng, Liyou Zheng, Mengyue Gong, Ming Chang, Qingzhe Jin & Xingguo Wang

  2. Food and Drug Inspection and Testing Center, Puyang, 457000, People’s Republic of China

    Min Cheng

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  1. Ruijie Liu
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  2. Xin Guo
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  3. Min Cheng
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  4. Liyou Zheng
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  5. Mengyue Gong
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  6. Ming Chang
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  7. Qingzhe Jin
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  8. Xingguo Wang
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Correspondence to Ming Chang.

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Liu, R., Guo, X., Cheng, M. et al. Effects of chemical refinement on the quality of coconut oil. J Food Sci Technol 56, 3109–3116 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-03810-w

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