Why is efficient wax and lipids removal important?
Like many fruits, olives are covered in a thin a layer of wax to protect them from evaporation and attack by microorganisms. When olives are processed into oil, the oil that is released dissolves the skin waxes and ends up in the oil.
Olive oils are extracted by milling and grinding the whole fruits. Naturally occurring waxes solubilized during extraction have a negative impact on the quality of the olive oil, causing cloudiness upon precipitation. Olive oil processors employ a variety of methods to separate the wax solids, including centrifugation, tank settling, diatomaceous earth (DE, Kieselguhr) filtration, and depth filtration with cartridges, lenticular filters or filter sheets.
Variation in final product quality can necessitate reprocessing of the oils with multiple filtration passes which impacts productivity. Process flow rates are often very low, or the installations require large sizing. Downstream filters often clog relatively quickly. Replacing disposable filters during processing of a batch is time consuming, labor intensive and costly.
In addition, wax content indicates overall olive oil quality. Virgin and extra virgin olive oil have the lowest levels of wax and therefore are considered better quality.
| Wax Contents as a Quality Aspect in Olive oil | mg/kg |
|---|---|
| Extra virgin | ≤150 |
| Ordinary virgin olive oil | ≤250 |
| Lampante virgin olive oil | ≤300 |
| Refined olive oil | ≤350 |
| Crude olive pomace oil | >350 |
| Refined olive pomace oil | >350 |
| Olive pomace oil | >350 |
Proven and cost-effective solutions for de-waxing olive oils
SUPRApak Plus Modules are the second generation of our SUPRApak filter series. Using advanced sealing technology to seal unfiltrate and filtrate channels, its higher mechanical stability optimizes process safety while the high dirt holding capacity increases service life, reducing OPEX and improving availability of the filter line.
SUPRApak PW Modules
Used for standard processes, the SUPRApak PW Series modules are available in multiple grades suitable for applications requiring fine, clarifying and coarse filtration.
SUPRApak PZ Modules
For the lowest possible impact on high quality products, SUPRApak PZ Modules constructed from 100% pure cellulose sheet media are recommended.
Benefits of these solutions include:
- Stabilization and improved quality of the olive oil
- Reduction in process time compared to the use of depth filter cartridges
- Single enclosed SUPRApak filter housing, providing high quality filtration
- Higher flow capacity and throughput due to new module construction and flow configuration.
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