Effect of unsaturation of free fatty acids and phytosterols on the formation of esterified phytosterols during deodorization of corn oil

BACKGROUND Phytosterols are partly removed during oil refining, and the magnitude of phytosterols loss largely depends on the refining conditions applied and the molecular conformation. The aim of this research was to study the effect of deodorization conditions and molecular unsaturation on the esterification of phytosterols during deodorization of corn oil. RESULTS In the chemical model, free fatty acids (FFAs) were the major provider of acyl groups during the formation of phytosteryl fatty acid esters (PEs) under deodorization conditions. Among the main parameters of the deodorization, temperature played a role in the formation of PEs with a time‐dependent manner. In comparison, saturated palmitic acid had a higher capability of esterifying free phytosterols (FPs) to PEs than unsaturated oleic acid and linoleic acid. Moreover, the influence of FFA unsaturation on the degradation of FPs depended on temperature. Besides, the formation of stigmasteryl ester had a competitive advantage over that of sitosteryl ester by quantum chemistry simulation. CONCLUSION For laboratory‐scale deodorization of corn oil, saturated fatty acids and deodorization process with steam as stripping gas could obviously esterify FPs to PEs. FPs were abundantly enriched in distillate during the deodorization process with nitrogen as stripping gas, whereas FPs and PEs were distilled simultaneously during the deodorization process with steam. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry