Prepress‐solvent extraction of crambe: First commercial trial run of new oilseed

Commercial‐scale equipment was used to process experimentally 36 tons ofCrambe abyssinica seed grown in the western part of the United States to obtain information on the processing of this new oilseed and to determine characteristics of the oil and meal products. The run was carried out for USDA at the Pacific Vegetable Oil Corporation plant at Sidney, Nebraska, February 1964. Process objectives in the study included dehulling, primary oil removal by expeller prepress, secondary oil removal by solvent extraction and control of thioglucosides to obtain good oil quality. A continuous plant operation yielded crude oils and toasted meal that will be compared with similar products from other commercial oilseed processes. Characteristics of the crude oils that have been determined are composition, refining losses and hydrogenation ability. Organoleptic data on the refined, bleached and deodorized oils have been obtained, as well as compositional data on the desolventized‐toasted meals. More than 13 tons of meal and 10 tons of oil were prepared.