Geometrical isomerization of polyunsaturated fatty acids in physically refined rapeseed oil during plant-scale deodorization

The effect of the operating temperature (between 220 and 270 °C) on the formation of trans isomers of linoleic and linolenic acids in physically refined rapeseed oil during deodorization in a plant‐scale semicontinuous tray‐type deodorizer (capacity 10 t/h) was investigated. The industrial procedures of physical refining consisted of a two‐step bleaching and deodorization process. The degree of isomerization of linoleic acid ranged from 0.33 to 4.77% and that of linolenic acid from 4.43 to 45.22% between 220 and 270 °C, respectively. A relation between the logarithm of the degree of isomerization and the deodorization temperature can be approximated by statistically highly significant linear functions for both linoleic and linolenic acids. Oleic acid was resistant to the heat‐induced geometrical isomerization. The values found for the ratio between the degrees of isomerization of linolenic and linoleic acids, slightly decreasing with increasing temperature, were equal to 13.6 and 12.9 at 230 and 240 °C, respectively. Two trans isomers of linoleic acid, exclusively with one double bond isomerized into trans configuration, and four trans isomers of linolenic acid, mostly with one double bond isomerized into trans configuration, were determined in deodorized rapeseed oils. Linolenic acid was observed to be the main source responsible for the formation of nearly all trans fatty acids in physically refined rapeseed oil. At 235 °C, a deodorization temperature considered as a reasonable technological compromise, the content of trans fatty acids in plant‐scale physically refined rapeseed oil was less than 1% of total fatty acids, which would be acceptable for further application.