VFT has developed a mild and cost-effective fiber reactor edible oil purification process to obtain superior quality edible oils. The Fiber Reactor edible oil package incorporates a sequence of microchannel fiber reactors which effectively extract free fatty acids (FFA), hydratable phospholipids, and contaminants from crude vegetable oils to the specified targeted neutralization levels (≤0.5 wt.% FFA, ≤0.01 wt.% phospholipids).
VFT is currently expanding this application to treat industrial scale cooking and frying oils, which degrade in quality overtime due to the proliferation of FFAs. The fiber reactor cooking and frying oil treatment process incorporates microchannelfiber reactors which effectively remove FFAs and other water-soluble groups to levels below current industry-specified targets. VFT anticipates that in doing so it will provide a solution that not only allows manufacturers of fried and salty foods to extend the durable life of their cooking and frying oils, but also to potentially increase total product throughput and provide a healthier or premium product with a substantially lower FFA-count relative to their industry peers.
Additionally, VFT is in the early stages of exploring the fiber reactor’s applicability to numerous other key food ingredient processes, including those related to the production of hydrocolloids, such as pectin, a common food ingredient in jams, jellies, confectioneries, and dairy-based beverages, among others; functional citrus fibers, which is rapidly becoming a key ingredient in the consumers’ beyond meat/clean label preference; essential oils; and nutraceutical compounds, such as bio-flavonoids. Irrespective of the application, VFT’s fiber reactor easily integrates into existing and greenfield processing plants, improving operational efficiencies, increasing throughput, and lowering operating expenditures throughout plant operations.