Cholesterol Removal from Milk Fat by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction in coupled with Adsorption

The technical feasibility of removing cholesterol from milk fat by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction followed by adsorption on different adsorbents and of fractionating milk fat into different fatty acid composition at bar was investigated. Cholesterol could be selectively removed from milk fat by adsorption on a typical commercial florisil with extraction. Lower weight ratio of milk fat feed to florisil showed higher reduction of cholesterol, but gave lower yield in the milk fat fractions. The effective capacity of florisil for removing cholesterol from milk fat was 2.0g/g, which is the ratio of the fat feed to the adsorbent for 89% cholesterol reduction with a fat yield of 57.5%. Fatty acid composition showed higher short-chain and lower unsaturated long-chain fatty acids in the extracted fractions. Milk fat fractionation method by supercritical fluid extraction in coupled with adsorption would appear suitable for removing undesirable ingredients such as cholesterol and for enriching short-chain fatty acids in the fractions.