Process for the separation of triglycerides in an aqueous system

A process for the separation of a mixture of liquid and crystalline fatty acid triglycerides of different melting points, the process comprising the steps in the following order:

• a. contacting the glyceride mixture, at a temperature at which all the triglycerides thereof are liquid, with a mixture of oil-soluble and water-soluble surface-active agents which is sufficient to decrease the surface-tension at the triglyceride-aqueous interface of the triglycerides in contact with water to a value below 0.5 dyne/cm at the separation temperature, said oil-soluble surface-active agent selected from the group consisting essentially of oleoyl, linoleoyl and linolenoyl monoglycerides and the water-soluble surface-active agent selected from the group consisting essentially of an alkali metal decyl sulphate, an alkali metal salt of a C.sub.6.sup.+10 saturated fatty acid or a C.sub.12.sup.+28 unsaturated fatty acid;
• b. crystallizing the triglycerides at the temperature at which separation is effected and the liquid and crystalline fatty acid triglycerides to be separated coexist;
• c. contacting the mixture of triglycerides and surface-active agents at the separation temperature with sufficient water to form a dispersion of the crystalline fraction in the water added in the form of about 1 to about 15% of an inorganic salt solution;
• d. separating the liquid triglyceride fraction and the water containing the dispersed crystalline fraction, and
• e. recovering the crystalline fraction therefrom, the oil-soluble surface-active agent and the water-soluble surfaceactive agent.