MOSH/MOAH CONTAMINANTS
The next processing challenge The past three decades have seen increasing attention paid to contaminants in food oils. The 1990s saw a focus on trans fatty acids (TFAs) and pesticides, while the 2000s witnessed a shift to dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), Antonios Papastergiadis of Desmet Ballestra told the 25th Practical Short Course on Advanced Oils & Fats Processing and Application Technology on 15-17 November. In the 2010s, attention focused on 3-monochloropropane diol (3MCPD) and glycidyl esters (GEs), and the 2020s is seeing more focus on mineral oil and phthalates contamination (see Figure 1, below). Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH)
MOSH and MOAH are mineral oil hydrocarbons that can contaminate oils and fats in all stages of the production chain. While steps can be taken to mitigate their presence before processing, only deodorisation can remove them during refining encompass a wide range of products derived from petroleum distillation factions, according to Giorgia Purcaro, an analytical chemistry professor at the Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Department at Belgium’s University of Liège. They comprise mainly mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH). Being non-polar molecules, MOSH and
MOAH have excellent miscibility with oils and fats, and are the main constituents of mineral oil lubricants, according to Papastergiadis. Potential sources of MOSH/MOAH contamination can come from the environment; crop harvesting; during transportation of seeds and crude oils; during oil extraction and refining; and from packaging (see Figure 2, below). Although the presence of MOH in u
Environment
Figure 1: Contaminants in vegetable oils www.ofimagazine.com
MOSH MOAH.indd 2
Source: Desmet Ballestra
Sources of contamination
Oil extraction/ refining
Agricultural practices/ harvesting
Source: Desmet Ballestra
Packaging
Transport of seeds/ crude oils
Figure 2: Potential sources of MOSH/ MOAH contamination OFI – MARCH/APRIL 2022
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