Methods to reduce free fatty acids and cholesterol in anhydrous animal fat
AssigneeMichael E. George
InventorsAziz Chafic Awad, James Ian Gray
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Abstract
A process for removing free fatty acids (FFA) and preferably cholesterol from liquid anhydrous animal fats is described. The process uses a dilute solution of alkali metal base to form a salt of the FFA and then an alkali metal salt to precipitate the FFA from the animal fat. Preferably, a cyclodextrin is used in the process to remove cholesterol. Liquid vegetable fats are used in blends with the processed animal fat to produce a spreadable mixture for table use. The processed animal fat can be reconstituted to whole milk with the FFA and cholesterol removed for various commercial uses.
Claims20
A process for reducing free fatty acids (FFA) present in an anhydrous liquid animal fat to form a processed animal fat which comprises the steps of reacting:
- (a) providing a reaction mixture of the free fatty acids in the liquid animal fat with a water solution of an alkali metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and mixtures thereof at an elevated temperature with mixing so that the FFA present in the liquid animal fat forms a soluble fatty acid salt (SFAS);
- (b) reacting the SFAS with an alkaline earth metal salt so that the SFAS forms an insoluble fatty acid salt (IFAS) in the reaction mixture simultaneously with or after step (a);
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- (c) separating the IFAS from the reaction mixture to form the processed animal fat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.