Abstract:

The main physical-chemical properties of oil-tea camellia seed oil during the refining process were measured
and the changes of nutritional components were analyzed in order to explore the effect of the refining process on the quality
of oil-tea camellia seed oil. The results showed that the crude oil had the highest acid value, which was 0.746 mg/g. The
alkalized oil had the lowest acid value of only 0.037 mg/g. The acid value during alkali refining revealed a significant
decrease by 95.04%. The dehydrated oil had the highest peroxide value of 5.81 meq/kg. On the contrary, the deodorized oil
had the lowest peroxide value of only 2.22 meq/kg. The peroxide value throughout the whole refining process was decrease
by 61.79%. From crude oil to deodorized oil, the contents of tea polyphenols, α-tocopherol and squalene gradually decreased
from 54.698 5 μg/g, 251.337 0 mg/kg and 136.680 0 mg/kg to 25.134 1 μg/g, 101.301 0 mg/kg and 89.140 0 mg/kg,
respectively. Some changes were also observed in fatty acid composition and contents. Monounsaturated fatty acids were
decreased by 0.188%, while saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids were increased by 0.029% and 0.089%, respectively.
The refining process of oil-tea camellia seed oil can reduce acid value and peroxide value to the national standards for edible
oil. At the same time, there are losses in tea polyphenols, α-tocopherol and squalene during the refining process. So it is very
important to choose appropriate refining conditions to achieve a balance between safety and nutrition.

Key words: oil-tea camellia seed oil, physical-chemical properties, nutritional component, refining process