Quality of sunflower oil bleached during deodorization

Experiments with sunflower oil show that it is possible under certain conditions to bleach the oil during deodorization. The color of the oil bleached by deodorization is the same as that obtained with bleaching earth. Deodorization at 200 C yielded an oil with transparency at 455 nm of 78~84%. However, to obtain this degree of transparency, processing steps prior to deodorization must be efficient and not yield an oil with high levels of soaps and trace metals. Bleaching during deodorization also has an economic advantage over clay bleaching and deodorization. Data are presented that show the combined process yields an oil with better stability, higher tocopherol content and lower conjugated diene content. Oil processed in this manner has acceptable levels of soap, copper and iron. Sunflower oil with different degrees of oxidation levels has been processed to yield a satisfactory finished product.