Flax Seed Oil Extraction Optimization

由于其极佳的营养价值，冷榨亚麻籽油的市场在国内外都在增长。萨斯喀彻温省农民每年种植大量亚麻用于石油生产，主要市场是中国，近年来大幅增加了亚麻进口。该项目将致力于优化TA食品的冷压工艺。不同批次的亚麻籽在冷榨过程中产生的油含有不同水平的游离脂肪酸。在类似的条件下，一些批次的亚麻籽的游离脂肪酸水平较低，而另一些批次的游离脂肪酸水平要高得多。高脂肪酸水平是不可取的，因为这表明甘油三酯已经开始分解释放游离脂肪酸，这可能会导致油的味道变差，缩短其自身寿命。我们将研究几个可能影响亚麻加工后油酸度的因素，包括种植亚麻的农艺因素、不同的储存条件以及粉碎过程本身的一些变量。这项研究的结果应该有助于TA Foods生产更一致的产品，或许还有助于他们了解在购买粉碎种子时哪些因素是重要的。

The market for cold pressed Flax seed oil is growing both domestically and internationally due to its excellent nutritional benefits. Saskatchewan farmers grow significant acres of flax each year for oil production, the major market is China which has increased its imports of flax dramatically in recent years. This project will work to optimize the cold pressing regime of TA Foods. Different batches of flax seed yield oil with differing levels of free fatty acids during the cold pressing process. Under similar conditions some batches of flax seed have low levels of free fatty acids, others have much higher levels. High fatty acid levels are not desirable as this indicates that the triglycerides have started to break down releasing free fatty acids, this can lead to an off taste in the oil and shorten its self-life. We will be looking at several factors that may influence the acidity of the oil after processing including agronomic factors in growing the flax, different storage conditions and some variables within the crushing process itself. The results of this study should help TA Foods to produce a more consistent product and perhaps assist them in knowing which factors are important in purchasing seed stock for crushing.