Competitive adsorption among sesame oil components in a concentrated miscella system

Competitive adsorption of free fatty acids and carotenoids adsorption from sesame oil miscellas on vegetable carbon was studied by regression analysis. The equations obtained indicated that unsaturated carbonyls, free fatty acids (FFA₀), and carotenoids interacted to determine fatty acid and carotenoid adsorption. The driving force for carotenoid adsorption, the carotenoid concentration (C₀), was affected by a quadratic function of free fatty acid concentration [i.e., (FFA₀/C₀)²]. As FFA₀/C₀ increased, carotenoid adsorption efficiency was reduced, possibly because the accessible adsorption sites for carotenoids were occupied by fatty acids. Unsaturated carbonyls promoted free fatty acid adsorption, probably in the pores that were readily accessible for fatty acids. However, when the carbonyl concentration increased in the oil miscella, carbonyls were adsorbed instead of fatty acids. The results indicated how different oil molecules interact and affect adsorption (i.e., free fatty acids and carotenoids). Therefore, the adsorption process of vegetable oils (i.e., bleaching) has to be considered a multicomponent adsorption system.