Deodorizer distillates are valuable by-products of edible oil refining
and can have a wide range of characteristics. The value and uses clea
rly depend on their composition. A knowledge of their composition woul
d allow refining processes, to be compared and the influence of deodor
ization conditions to be determined. In this paper, TLC/FID is applied
to determine deodorizer composition in a rapid, single step analysis,
separating hydrocarbons, free fatty acids, triglycerides and sterols.
This analysis had similar reproducibility to other chromatographic te
chniques.