Acid degumming of crude palm oil using natural deep eutectic solvents: Green chemistry and sustainable process

The degumming process aims to remove gum (phosphatides) from crude palm oil (CPO). In the industry, acid degumming is carried out by adding phosphoric/citric acid, and the lecithin isolated from the gum is of low quality. Therefore, technology is needed to produce refined palm oil that is rich in natural antioxidants and produces lecithin. Previous research has shown that natural antioxidants in CPO were insoluble in NADES (natural deep eutectic solvents). In this work, the NADES activity on the acid degumming of CPO was investigated. Acid degumming carried out at variations in NADES type, temperature, and NADES loadings. NADES have extensive potential for acid degumming of CPO. NADES from a mixture of choline chloride and citric acid is capable to removing all phosphatides present in CPO. The use of NADES does not affect the saponification, peroxide, and iodine values of the acid degumming oil, and natural antioxidants can be preserved. FTIR analysis results show that the phospholipid structure in the gum (which was separated after acid degumming) remains intact (not degraded). The acid degumming process using NADES can be further developed on the production of antioxidant-rich refined palm oil, as well as the production of lecithin from the separated gum.