MEMBRANE DEGUMMING AND DEWAXING OF RICE BRAN OIL AND ITS REFINING

A combined degumming-dewaxing batch by filtration through a ceramic me mbrane followed by earth bleaching and physical or alkali refining was studied for crude rice bran oil. The results were compared with the c onventional centrifugal process for gum and wax removal. The character istics of the refined ails obtained by the two processes were comparab le. However, the former process was promising with respect to higher r ecovery of oil and better recovery of the byproducts gum and wax. Oil content of the mixed gum-wax phase was 7.6-8.1%. The recovery of oil u sing the membrane technique was always 2-3% higher than the centrifuga l process. The membrane process was also found to be more effective an d the quality of the final product was acceptable.