Feature

Control of oilseed processing for best quality and yield requires attention to many details, starting at the seed unloading station and continuing through to the loading of products. Present trading rules encourage practices that degrade oil and meal. Better cleaning would pay handsomely in quality products. The continuous mechanical screw‐press process and the solvent extraction process have many common problems which involve quality and yield control. Time, temperature, and moisture are the variable involved in all the unit processes that comprise oilseed milling. These unit processes and some recent developments in low‐temperature processing are described. Oilseed milling is still “rough terrain” with regard to automation, but labor costs as a percentage of total processing costs are relatively low in large‐capacity plants.