Outcome of Refining on the Physicochemical Properties ofCottonseed Oil

The influence of refining processes on the physicochemical properties including fatty acidcomposition of cottonseed oil (CSO) was studied. Physicochemical properties were determined bystandard AOCS and IUPAC methods. The obtained results of physical parameters showed thatneutralization, bleaching and deodorization processesoncrude CSO significantly reduced themoisture content, color, freezing pointandsmoke point,while slightly decrease in refractive indexwas observed.Similarly, in the case of chemical properties free fatty acids,saponification valueand peroxide value were reduced from 1.7 to 0.15%, 175 to 173 mg KOH/g oiland3.4 to 1.2 mEqO2/Kgoil,respectively.Refining processes did not showed significant effect on the fatty acidcomposition and iodine value. As, soap contents generated in the chemical neutralization step,therefore soap content were decreased from 61.0 to 15.5 ppm in bleaching and deodorizationsteps. Moreover, this work suggests that overall deodorization process has greater impact onphysicochemical properties to improve the quality and stability of cottonseed oil.