Molecular Distillation of Palm Oil Distillates: Evaporation Rates, Relative Volatility, and Distribution Coefficients of Tocotrienols and other Minor Components

The effects of feed flow rate and temperature of distillation on extraction of minor components from PFAD were studied in terms of concentration, distribution coefficient and relative volatilities. The order of volatilities for tocotrienols, based on the distribution coefficients, was desmethyl tocotrienols (δ‐T3)>γ‐tocotrienols (γ‐T3)>α‐tocotrienols (α‐T3). The separation of tocotrienols from FFA approached maximum values only at low temperatures and fell drastically as the temperature increased. FFA and squalene evaporate at lower temperatures than tocotrienols, α‐tocopherol, and sterols. Based on these properties, it was possible to separate the tocotrienols, α‐tocopherol, and sterols from FFA by molecular distillation using low temperatures.