Patent ID: 7713727
Filing Date: 2010-05-11
Classification: A23D,C11B,C12P

Abstract:
1. A process for reducing fouling of industrial scale edible oil processing equipment, comprising: reacting a crude vegetable oil source of edible vegetable oil with an enzyme thereby cleaving fat components of the crude vegetable oil source to provide cleaved and hydrated sites of the phospholipid to provide a reacted edible oil that is an enzymatically treated edible oil; thereafter adding a post-reaction anti-fouling component to the reacted edible oil that has been enzymatically treated to solubilize calcium or magnesium citrate salt released during enzymatic reaction on said crude vegetable oil to provide a post-reaction mixture thereof wherein said anti-fouling component is an organic or mineral acid suitable for use with food for human consumption added in an amount between 100 ppm and 300 ppm and reduces the pH of said reacted edible oil's aqueous phase to not greater than 4.5 pH; passing a flow of said post-reaction mixture of reacted edible oil and anti-fouling component into and through post-reaction equipment; and thereby reducing or preventing calcium or magnesium citrate salt precipitate fouling on working surfaces of the post-reaction equipment through the action of said anti-fouling component present within said reacted edible oil of the post-reaction mixture while same is within the post-reaction equipment.