FA monoalkylesters from rice bran oil by in situ esterification

Extraction and in situ esterification of rice bran oil with ethanol were investigated by studying the effects of rice bran oil FFA content and water content of ethanol. Ethyl ester formation in the ethanol phase increased as FFA content increased. Neutral oil solubility in this phase fell considerably, resulting in a high ethyl ester content. The decrease of the water content in ethanol led to an increase in neutral oil solubility in ethanol and promoted the equilibrium of reaction to ethyl‐ester formation, resulting in lower FFA content of the product. The main factor that affected yield and monoester content when using high‐acidity bran and various monohydroxy alcohols was the solubility of neutral oil in alcohol. The highest monoester content was obtained with methanol.