fat and oil processing

Introduction
General methods of extraction
- Rendering
  - Fruits and seeds
  - Animal fats
- Pressing
  - Pressing processes
  - Pressing machines
- Solvent extraction
  - Processes
  - Extractors
Processing of extracted oil
- Refining
  - Alkali refining
  - Water refining
- Bleaching
- Destearinating or winterizing
- Hydrogenation
  - Hydrogenation reactions
  - Isomerization reactions
- Deodorization

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Three blocks of butter on a plate with a piece cut off, next to a butter knife and a blue checkered cloth in the background.

extraction and refinement of edible oil from oilseed

Open tub of margarine with a knife holding a scoop of margarine above the container.

Quizzes

A Few Facts About Food Processing Quiz

Related Questions

How are triglycerides formed from glycerol and fatty acids?
How can destearinating animal fats produce both hard fat and liquid oleo oil?
How can hydrogenation create trans fatty acids?
How did hydraulic presses improve oil extraction from seeds?
How did hydrogenated cottonseed oil contribute to the development of shortening?
How do cold-pressed oils differ from oils pressed with heat?
How do fuller’s earth and activated carbon remove pigments from oils?
How do monoglycerides and diglycerides help stabilize emulsions?
How do oleic acid and linoleic acid differ in their number of double bonds?
How does alkali refining remove free fatty acids from crude oils?
How does hydrogenation change liquid vegetable oils into more solid fats?
How does hydrolysis contribute to rancidity in butter?
How does mechanical pressing extract oil from seeds and nuts?
How does oxidation cause fats and oils to become rancid?
How does prepressing help extract oil from seeds with high oil content?
How does rendering separate fat from animal tissues?
How does solvent extraction remove oil left in pressed seed meal?
How does the length of a saturated fatty acid chain affect its melting point?
How does water refining remove phospholipids from soybean and corn oils?
How does winterizing remove waxes from oils?
How is corn oil produced from corn germ?
How is oil extracted from olives and palm fruits?
How is solvent recovered after oil has been extracted from seed meal?
How is whale oil obtained from blubber by rendering?
How much pressure can modern screw presses use during oil extraction?
What are mixed triglycerides and how do they differ from simple triglycerides?
What happens to the protein-rich meal left after oilseed extraction?
What is soapstock and how is it removed during alkali refining?
What remains in oilseed cake after mechanical pressing?
What steps prepare oilseeds for mechanical pressing?
Which animal products and plants provide raw materials for fats and oils?
Which foods are major sources of oleic acid?
Which vegetable oils are important sources of linoleic acid?
Why are cottonseed and peanut oils destearinated for use as salad oils?
Why are linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid essential in the human diet?
Why are monoglycerides added to shortening used in baked products?
Why are oils bleached during processing?
Why are refined oils washed with water after alkali treatment?
Why are unsaturated fats more likely to become rancid than saturated fats?
Why can bleaching make oils more likely to become rancid?
Why can mixed triglycerides have different isomeric forms?
Why do fatty acids have a major effect on the properties of fats and oils?
Why do trans fatty acids have higher melting points than cis fatty acids?
Why does hydrogenation make oils more resistant to rancidity?
Why is beef tallow generally solid at room temperature?
Why is coconut oil relatively saturated but often semiliquid at room temperature?
Why is cottonseed oil considered a by-product oil?
Why is lecithin recovered from degummed soybean oil?
Why is solvent extraction often more economical than pressing for large-scale oil production?

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External Websites

National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Fat Processing Techniques

fat and oil processing

chemistry

Written by

A. Richard Baldwin

Vice President and Executive Director of Research, Cargill, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1964–83. Former Editor, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society.

A. Richard BaldwinAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

fat and oil processing, method by which fatty animal and plant substances are prepared for eating by humans. The oil and fat products used for edible purposes can be divided into two distinct classes: liquid oils, such as olive oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, or sunflower oil; and plastic fats, such as lard, shortening, butter, and margarine. The physical nature of the fatty material is unimportant for some uses, but the consistency is a matter...

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