Enzymatic degumming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10329514-B2
Application number	US-201214439589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2012
Priority date	Oct 31, 2012
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for treating vegetable oils and/or animal fats. The method comprises adjusting temperature, treatment with acid, adjusting pH, contacting the aqueous mixture with enzyme, crystallization of high melting glycerides and separation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for treating vegetable oils and/or animal fats, comprising the following steps:
(i) adjusting the vegetable oils and/or animal fats to a temperature within a range from about 20 to about 90° C.;
(ii) pre-treating the vegetable oils and/or animal fats with acid for at least 1 minute;
(iii) adjusting a pH of the pretreated vegetable oils and/or animals fats with lye to a pH within a range from about 4 to about 8 at a temperature of at least 20° C. to obtain an aqueous mixture;
(iv) adding enzymes to the aqueous mixture to form lysophospholipids and free fatty acids from phospholipids in the aqueous mixture;
(v) reducing a temperature of the aqueous mixture comprising the lysophospholipids and the free fatty acids obtained in step (iv) to a crystallization temperature of high melting glycerides and conducting centrifugation;
(vi) separating the aqueous mixture into an aqueous phase and a treated phase comprising treated vegetable oils and/or treated animal fats; and
(vii) optionally treating the treated phase with hot water or with silica adsorption.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature in step (i) is adjusted within a range from about 40 to about 90° C.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the pre-treating step (ii) the vegetable oils and/or animal fats is treated with acid from about 1 to about 60 minutes.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pH in step (iii) is adjusted with the lye to a pH within a range from about 4 to about 8 at a temperature from about 40 to about 60° C.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the aqueous mixture in step (v) is adjusted by a cooling rate and by a residence time to optimize crystallisation.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a temperature of the aqueous mixture in separation step (vi) is adjusted to facilitate separation.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the temperature of the aqueous mixture in separation step (vi) is adjusted to within the range of from about 15 to about 50° C.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme in treatment step (iv) is a phospholipase enzyme.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acid in step (ii) is selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, acetic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, and a combination thereof.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature in step (i) is adjusted to be within the range from about 60 to about 90° C.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mixing of enzyme in step (iv) is continued within the range from about 1 min to about 6 hours.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mixing of the lye in step (iii) is continued within the range from about 1 min to about 4 hours.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the lye in step (iii) is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium silicate, sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, and a combination thereof.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the pre-treating step (ii) the vegetable oils and/or animal fats is treated with acid from about 5 to about 60 minutes.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the pre-treating step (ii) the vegetable oils and/or animal fats is treated with acid from about 20 to about 40 minutes.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the aqueous mixture in step (v) is adjusted by a cooling rate within a range of from about 0.5° C. per hour to about 5° C. per hour, and a residence time within a range of from about 4 to 24 hours.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the aqueous mixture in step (v) is adjusted by a cooling rate within a range of from about 0.5° C. per hour to about 5° C. per hour, and a residence time within a range of from 6 to 12 hours.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme in treatment step (iv) is selected from the group consisting of a phospholipase A enzyme, a phospholipase C enzyme, and combinations thereof.

19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acid in step (ii) is selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid and citric acid and combinations thereof.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the lye in step (iii) is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and combinations thereof.

21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzymes comprise phospholipase A, and phospholipase C is not present.

Assignees

• Alfa Laval Corp Ab

Inventors

• Shevchenko Alexey
• Hua Ling

Classifications

• C11B3/003 Primary

  by enzymes or microorganisms, living or dead · CPC title

• C11B3/04

  with acids · CPC title

• C11B7/0075

  by differences of melting or solidifying points · CPC title

• C11B3/10

  by adsorption · CPC title

• C11B3/001

  by a combination of two or more of the means hereafter · CPC title