Vegetable fats are an important food product that supplies the human body with vitamin E, phosphatides and other useful substances important for metabolism, which are responsible for the proper functioning of the immune system, hormonal synthesis, elasticity of blood vessels and resistance to harmful radiation. On how full the content of trace elements in the consumed oil depends on its value.
The word "refining" means the cleaning of impurities. The question arises as to whether its components should be removed from a natural product, and if so, which ones. In other words, what is the difference between unrefined sunflower oil and a very similar product sold in the same PET bottles, but called refined? The type of packaging and the color of the product do not mean anything. In order to understand the difference, it is necessary to at least briefly clarify the technology used in the fat processing plants - enterprises in which sunflower oil is made and bottled. Its production is carried out by methods developed for a long time.
The simplest, most environmentally friendly and oldest method is the method of producing oil by direct pressing. Sunflower seeds are loaded into the press, the screw piston is set in motion, the raw material is compressed, and the result is that the product has flowed. As a waste, a very valuable product remains, containing the flesh of the nucleoli, husk and, again, butter, which we commonly call lean. Previously, during the war and after it, they ate Makuku, now they fish on it.
The direct spin method is very good, but has several disadvantages. Firstly, it is uneconomical, the yield is about 30% of the mass of loaded raw materials, and then in the best case. The indicator of the content of vegetable fats in a seed is called oil content and depends both on the variety and on the weather conditions under which the sunflower matured. Secondly, not only raw seeds are pressed, but also fried, that is, subjected to heat treatment at a temperature of about 110 degrees, and this leads to the fact that such unrefined sunflower oil also contains not very useful trace elements, from which it still needs to be cleaned . Thirdly, the shelf life of a product that is hot, that is more useful cold pressed is extremely limited, which trade does not like. Unrefined sunflower oil can be eliminated from undesirable components by fairly simple mechanical means - sedimentation, centrifugation and filtration. This is also refining, but when it is carried out, the content of nutrients and vitamins does not decrease.
The next cleaning step is done using hot water. Protein components that cause premature spoilage settle, the product becomes light and transparent. This is also unrefined sunflower oil. The benefits of its use are somewhat reduced compared to the raw product. Hydration eliminates not only harmful, but also a part of useful microelements, but on the whole, such cleaning gives the optimum ratio of presentation, shelf life, cost and nutritional value.
Modern intensive production methods do not allow the loss of valuable products contained in waste. Using organic solvents, mainly ultra-refined gasoline, fat is extracted, after which only meal is left. The yield of finished product reaches 99%. If unrefined sunflower oil has its own smell and even, you can say, aroma, then vegetable fat purified from all impurities is very transparent and beautiful, almost completely devoid of taste and deodorized.
So, sunflower oil is sold in three types:
- unrefined;
- refined deodorized;
- refined non-deodorized.
Each of them is used for its intended purpose. The first is for salads, the second is for frying, the third is universal.