PROCESS OF REFINING A CRUDE PALM FRUIT OIL PRODUCT

The invention relates to a process of refining refined palm fruit oil products that yields a refined oil product having an exceptionally low content of 3-MCPD fatty acid esters. More particularly, the present invention provides a process of refining a crude palm fruit oil product, said process comprising the successive steps of: a) removing phospholipids and/or free fatty acids from a crude palm fruit oil product by subjecting the oil product to a pretreatment, thereby producing a pretreated palm fruit oil product with a reduced phospholipid content and/or a reduced free fatty acid content; b) simultaneously or sequentially contacting the pretreated palm fruit oil product with bleaching earth and a porous silica material to produce a bleached palm fruit oil product, said porous silica material having a surface area of at least 10 m2/g and being selected from the group consisting of silica, amorphous silicate, zeolite and combinations thereof; and c) deodorizing the bleached palm fruit oil product to produce a refined palm fruit oil product; wherein the pretreated palm fruit oil product is contacted with the porous silica material at a temperature of at least 95?C and wherein the pretreatment of the crude palm fruit oil product comprises the successive steps of: ? mixing the crude palm fruit oil product with an aqueous liquid having an alkaline pH of more than 8 to produce an oil-and-water mixture; and ? removing an aqueous liquid containing polar lipids from the oil-and-water mixture. The invention also relates to a refined palm fruit oil product obtained by the aforementioned process and to an edible product containing 1-80 wt.% of such refined palm fruit oil product.