• Is there a market for non-soybean oil?
  • While the edible oils market (mostly represented by soybean oil) is forecasted to reach 632 million tons by 2022, there is increasing interest to produce non-soybean, plant-based oils including, but not limited to, coconut, flaxseed and hemp seed.
  • Does oil extraction affect the environment?
  • LCA studies on edible oils frequently cover oilseed crop cultivation, oil extraction and transportation within their system boundaries . Yet, there is limited information on the environmental impacts between extraction methods.
  • How to improve oil extraction yield & quality?
  • Several parameters need to be considered to improve oil extraction yield and quality, and one such example is screw rotation. When using a pilot expeller press designed for cold pressing, increasing rotation from 1.2 to 18 rpm increased press capacity from 2.2 kg seed/h to 29.4 seed/h, while decreasing canola oil yields from 91 to 84% .
  • Do extraction methods affect the environment?
  • Yet, there is limited information on the environmental impacts between extraction methods. An LCA study on mustard seed oil demonstrated that extraction via pressing had significantly lower environmental impacts than a combination of pressing and solvent use.
  • What are the disadvantages of soybean oil production compared to hexane extraction?
  • However, its downside was generating the highest GHG (about 11 times more CO 2 and CH 4 emitted from 1 kg of soybean oil production compared to hexane extraction) and the highest criteria pollutant emissions due to the energy used during pressing.
  • How to improve oil extraction?
  • Another way to improve oil extraction is to perform extrusion of the seeds (Figure 2). This process, which also relies on screw configuration, is used to modify the shape and properties in applications such as expanded snacks (such as cheerios) or obtain liquid extracts from plant material.