A study on non-thermal processing technology for obtaining virgin coconut oil (VCO) using phase separation technique

Abstract

In this study, coconut milk was obtained by pressing fresh copra from Cocos Nucifera L. The coconut milk will be extracted by three-phase centrifuge. The influencing parameters including diluting the milk, the milk temperature before centrifugation, and centrifugation speed were considered. The result indicates that the specifications of the above phase separation process can directly impact the rate of oil recovery, especially the moisture of oil content. The coconut milk was diluted 1.5 times, adjusted temperature to 45°C, and then passed through centrifuges in three times with different rotation speeds: the first time with 15,000 rpm, 21,000 rpm in the second time, and 24,000 rpm in the third time when coconut oil would be gained. Oil recovery ratio reached 99.92%; moisture content of oil reached 0.08%. Coconut oil that obtained after three-time centrifugation was removed water by vacuum filtration equipment with vacuum 40 mbar, in 13 minutes, at 50°C. As a result of vacuum filtration, virgin coconut oil (VCO) was obtained with equivalent quality standards of APCC.