DHA RETENTION DURING CANOLA PROCESSING
This disclosure concerns vegetable oils and products containing the same comprising poly-unsaturated fatty acids. In some embodiments, this disclosure concerns novel oil processing methods that retain an amount of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in a refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) oil produced from a crude oil sample comprising the amount of DHA.
1 . A method for processing a crude vegetable oil sample comprising docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the method comprising:
deodorizing the crude oil sample to produce a deodorized oil at a temperature of less than about 220° C., wherein the amount of DHA in the crude oil sample is substantially retained in the deodorized oil.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the crude oil sample is deodorized at a temperature selected from the group consisting of about 200° C.; about 202° C.; about 204° C.; about 206° C.; about 208° C.; about 210° C.; about 212° C.; about 214° C.; about 216° C.; and about 218° C.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the crude oil sample is deodorized at a temperature of about 210° C.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the crude oil sample is deodorized for less than 90 minutes.
5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the crude oil sample is deodorized for a period of time selected from the group consisting of about 20 minutes; about 25 minutes; about 30 minutes; about 35 minutes; about 40 minutes; about 45 minutes; about 50 minutes; about 55 minutes; about 60 minutes; about 70 minutes; about 75 minutes; about 80 minutes; and about 85 minutes.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the crude oil sample is deodorized for about 60 minutes.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein more than about 95% of the DHA in the crude oil sample is retained in the deodorized oil.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the crude oil sample comprises mechanically-extracted oil from an oilseed.
9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the crude oil sample further comprises solvent-extracted oil from an oilseed.
10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the oil is mechanically-extracted from the oilseed by a process comprising mechanical pressing of ground oilseed.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the crude oil sample comprises oil from a Brassica sp.
12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the Brassica sp. is canola.
13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the canola is a genetically-modified canola that synthesizes DHA in its tissue.
14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises:
degumming the crude oil sample to remove phospholipids from the oil sample;
neutralizing the crude oil sample to remove free fatty acids from the oil sample; and
bleaching the crude oil sample to remove chlorophyll from the oil sample.
15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the method comprises extracting the crude oil sample from an oilseed.
16 . A DHA-containing oil produced by the method according to claim 1 .
17 . The DHA-containing oil of claim 16 , wherein the oil has a color of less than 1 Red (on a scale of 0-20 Red) and less than 10 Yellow (on a scale of 0-70 Yellow).
18 . The DHA-containing oil of claim 16 , wherein the oil possesses substantially all of the sensory and organoleptic characteristics of canola oil.
19 . The DHA-containing oil of claim 16 , wherein the oil product comprises an antioxidant.
20 . An oil-containing product comprising the oil of claim 16 .