Some unsaponifiable constituents of the deodorisation distillates of vegetable oils

An examination of the unsaponifiable fraction of the distillates obtained during the industrial process of deodorisation of vegetable oils has revealed the presence in those from groundnut oil, palm oil, cottonseed oil and sunflower seed oil of a high proportion of terpenes accompanied by a smaller proportion of aliphatic hydrocarbons and minor amounts of hydroxy compounds and ketones. In the distillates from palm kernel oil and coconut oil, where there was a preponderance of methyl ketones, the proportions of terpene and aliphatic hydrocarbons were about equal; small quantities of carbinols were associated with the ketones.