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AIR3-CT94-2480
Crambe abyssinica, a comprehensive programme - Workshop - Part 3 - Processing |
An intimate knowledge of the properties of crambe seed and it's behaviour in the subsequent processing steps from seed to oil and meal, is an absolute necessity for the successful commercialisation of the crop. Crambe seed consists of a kernel surrounded by a hull. The kernel contains approximately 50 percent oil of which up to 60 percent is erucic acid. The hull is mainly cellulosic fibres. The size of the hulled seeds varies between 2 and 3 mm. The main objective of processing crambe seeds is to liberate the oil for further processing into erucic acid and derivatives while simultaneously converting the other components of the seeds proteins, fibres and glucosinolates - into marketable products. In our approach the choice was made for meal as component for compound feed. Processing starts already on the field when harvesting the crop. A choice has to be made between windrowing and subsequent threshing and combine harvesting. In the initial stage of development of the crop the small quantity of harvested seeds prohibited the use of commercial and/or semi-commercial crushing and extraction plants. A choice was made for dehulling the seeds followed by conventional pressing. The use of conventional dehulling equipment was only possible after classification of the seeds according to size. In the next stage where larger quantities became available the seeds were crushed and hexane extracted.
Processing technology has been developed for gentle separation of the constituents in oil- and protein rich seeds of plants as legumes and cruciferous crops. The techniques comprise use of cell wall degrading enzymes and separations in aqueous systems using decanters, centrifuges, filtration and various types of flash chromatography systems. As it is an enzyme based technology, performed at relatively low temperature and without use of organic solvents it gives the possibilities of preparation of high quality products. In the case of cruciferous plants, the seeds contain about 35-50 percent oil, 20-30 percent protein and a corresponding level of dietary fibre or cell wall constituents. In addition all plants of the family Cruciferae or Brassicaceae with important crops as B. napus L. (oilseed rape), B. compestris L. or B. juncea (L.) Czern., Crambe abyssinica L. and Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz. contain glucosinolates. Glucosinolates (Sorensen, 1990) and especially products thereof give often appreciable physiological effects as xenobiotics. The degradation of glucosinolates are produced when traditional oil-mill processing (pressing and solvent extraction) is used, and thereby the otherwise high quality of oil and protein in cruciferous seeds is reduced in both quality and value. With the use of the developed aqueous enzyme technology (Bagger et al., 1996), problems caused by glucosinolate products can be avoided, and the technology give opportunities for isolation of these and other potential harmful compounds. The compounds can then instead be used as high value products. Laboratory trials indicate that at least 65 percent of the crambe oil can be extracted by aqueous enzymatic extraction and that the enzyme system SP-311 (Novo Nordisk A/S) is well balanced in its enzyme activities for aqueous extraction of crambe oil. In the EU financed project ''Biorefined Oilseed Products" (BOP) pilot plant trials of crambe are scheduled ultimo 1997 with the objectives to evaluate the potential added value of producing high quality products of crambe protein for feed and polymers, oil for slip agents and glucosinolates for plant protection and fine chemicals.
References: Bagger, C.L, Sorensen H., and Sorensen J. C.: High Quality Oils, Proteins and Bioactive Products for Feed and Non-food Purposes Based on Biorefining of Cruciferous Oilseed Crops.: In proceedings of "Conference on Plant Proteins from European Crops. Food and Non-Food Applications". Nantes, France, November 25-27,1996. Sorensen, H. Glucosinolates: Structure-Properties-Function. In: Rapeseed/Canola: Processing Technology (Ed. F. Shahidi) Van Nostrand Reinhold Publisher (1990), Chapter 9, 149-172.
An overview will be given of the usage of oils and fats in the Oleochemical Industry. Special attention will be given to the position of erucic acid containing oils. The processing of two 100 MT batches of Crambe oil (ex CEBECO-Handelsraad) will be presented and explained. Application studies on the performance of Crambe derived erucamide in poly-olefins shows that the Crambe erucamide delivers equal performance compared with HERP-derived erucamide. Cost calculations will be presented how to value the higher content of erucic acid compared to HERP derived erucic acid. The work presented was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture Nature Management and Fisheries.
The result of the processing of Crambe seeds is meal. Depending on the conditions e.g. hulling or not hulling the seeds the meal contains fibrous material up to 35 percent. The meal also contains glucosinolates, of which 95 percent is epi-progoitrin. The most obvious utilisation of this meal is as raw material for feedstuffs. However the extremely high glucosinolate content limits the application to cattle feed in a quantity below 10 percent. To be more flexible the meal has to be made suitable also for broilers, piglets and pigs. By a combined enzymatic-catalytic treatment the glucosinolate content can be decreased by 95 percent. The influence of temperature and moisture, simulating the extraction and subsequent conditions for solvent removal, on the efficiency of glucosinolate removal with flaked whole seeds, flaked dehulled seeds, extracted crushed whole seeds and extracted crushed dehulled seeds has been investigated in combination with enzymes and catalysts. It will be demonstrated that an optimum combination of temperature, moisture, enzyme activity and catalyst does exist. The results obtained from the laboratory and semi-technical investigations have been used to define the crushing, extraction and conditions for solvent removal on an industrial scale. The meal obtained from this production-trial has been used to test on a semi-technical and commercial scale the conditions for decreasing the glucosinolate content. With the thus treated meal several compound feeds have been formulated for testing the nutritive value of feed for cattle, broilers and piglets.
Erucic acid can be transformed through different reactions to match specific applications.
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