Obtaining Butter Oil Triacylglycerols Free from [beta]-Carotene and [alpha]-Tocopherol via Activated Carbon Adsorption and Alumina-Column Chromatography Treatments

• Published in: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Vol. 85; no. 3; p. 213
• Main Authors: Karabulut, Ihsan, Topcu, Ali, Akmil-Basar, Canan, Onal, Yunus, Lampi, Anna-Maija
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign Springer Nature B.V 01-03-2008
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Activated carbon adsorption; Adsorption; Alumina; Antioxidants; Chromatography; Dairy products; Experiments; Isotherms; Kinetics; Studies; Temperature; Vegetable oils
• ISSN: 0003-021X; 1558-9331

It is difficult to remove β-carotene from oils with alumina-column chromatography, because β-carotene is even less-polar than triacylglycerols (TAGs) are. The objective of this study was to obtain butter oil TAGs free from β-carotene and antioxidants via sequential treatments with activated carbon (AC) adsorption and alumina column chromatography. The AC used was prepared from waste apricots. The effects of AC dosages, temperatures and time courses on β-carotene adsorption were studied. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to describe the adsorption of β-carotene onto AC, and it was found to be more consistent with the Freundlich isotherm with a higher R^sup 2^ value (0.9784). Adsorption kinetics of β-carotene was analyzed by pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models. The pseudo-second order model was found to explain the kinetics of β-carotene adsorption more effectively (R^sup 2^ = 0.9882). The highest β-carotene reduction was achieved (from 31.9 to 1.84 mg/kg) at an AC dosage of 10 wt%, temperature of 50 °C, and adsorption time of 240 min. A considerable amount of α-tocopherol was also adsorbed during the AC treatment. Remaining portions of α-tocopherol were completely removed with alumina adsorption chromatography. The method described may be used for purification of vegetable oil TAGs, which will be used as model compounds in model oxidation studies. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]