When you order RBD palm oil you are ordering an oil ready for industry: neutral in color, odor and taste. Those three letters sum up a whole refining process that separates crude oil from the finished product.
What RBD is
RBD stands for Refined, Bleached and Deodorized. It is a crude oil stripped of free fatty acids, color, moisture and impurities through physical refining, with no chemical transformation.
The process
- Degumming and neutralization: gums and free fatty acids are removed.
- Bleaching: adsorbent earths remove pigments and impurities, lightening the oil.
- Deodorizing: steam and vacuum remove odors and flavors, leaving the oil neutral.
Olein and stearin
RBD palm oil can be fractionated by controlled crystallization into two products with different performance:
| Fraction | State | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Olein | Liquid | Industrial frying, blends |
| Stearin | Solid | Margarines, shortenings, bakery |
Olein is the liquid part, very stable at high temperatures; stearin is the solid part, with a high melting point and free of trans fatty acids.
Industrial uses
- Industrial frying, snacks and fast food.
- Margarines, puff-pastry fats and shortenings.
- Bakery, confectionery, ice cream and coatings.
- Cocoa butter equivalents and dairy substitutes.
A good RBD oil goes unnoticed: it adds no color or flavor, only performance.
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