A brief history of soybean oil production
So, you’re thinking of getting into the soybean oil manufacturing process?
In this series of blog posts, we’re diving deep into the soybean oil extraction process, exploring facets ranging from proper cultivation and harvest all the way to oil refining and packaging. But before we get there, it’s worth taking a look at the history of soybean oil production and the purposes it’s been used for.
Today, soybean oil is among the world’s most widely used cooking oils: you probably use or consume it in some form without even knowing it. The origins of this highly popular oil date back over 3,000 years, to ancient China, where soybean was first cultivated for its protein content. Eventually, soybean oil began to be produced and used for cooking. It was, to some extent, also used as fuel for lighting.
The 20th century gave soybean oil production a whole new life. The versatility and rich nutritional value of the oil contributed to greater interest in the soybean oil manufacturing process. Biotechnology advancements also led to the introduction of enhanced soybeans by the 1990s, enabling farmers to improve their soybean yields and manufacturers to produce more soybean oil. This increased crop efficiency, which means that we can get more from less when it comes to soy cultivation, has given soyabean oil the position it enjoys today in the global market.
What even is soyabean oil?
Before we get into the nitty-gritties of the process, we must make sure we know and understand our main character. What is soybean oil anyway?
Soybean oil is the vegetable oil extracted from the beans of the Glycine max, or soyabean plant. It is light in colour, free of odours, and has a neutral taste, making it popular for both cooking and industrial applications.
In terms of composition, soybean oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid and oleic acid, both of which can help lower cholesterol levels. Soybean oil also contains small amounts of saturated fats and other nutrients. On the whole, it’s a fairly nutritionally rich and multipurpose oil. Many consider it a great alternative to animal fats. And it has many applications in food production and beyond.
Want to set up a soybean oil manufacturing plant? First, understand the soybean oil manufacturing process
All of this makes one thing clear: there is already a large market for soybean oil, so there’s plenty of space for new players to jump in, too.
If a soybean oil manufacturing plant is on the cards for you, first, you need to gain a deep understanding of the soybean oil manufacturing process. It will not only help you understand the expertise and equipment you need to invest in, but it will also give you an idea of the soybean oil manufacturing plant cost you can expect.
So, let’s get started. We’ll begin by exploring the raw materials you need for the soybean oil extraction process.
Selecting the right raw materials
The results of your soybean oil manufacturing process are only as good as the inputs you use. In today’s health- and climate-conscious world, where and how you source your raw materials is even more important. So that’s where we’ll begin our exploration of the soybean oil manufacturing process.
Cultivation. Different soybean varieties may thrive in slightly different climates, though they all prefer warmer temperatures. Soybean cultivators may choose between early-maturing and late-maturing varieties, depending on local climatic conditions. The appropriately selected, high-quality seeds are planted in rows, in well-drained soil, to maximise nutrient absorption and exposure to sunlight. Planting typically happens during the spring season, when temperatures are just right for soybean growth.
Given that sustainability is a key factor in any decision-making process today, when selecting raw materials or soybean farmers to source from, there are a few sustainable practices you can keep an eye out for to make sure you’re getting a high-quality, environmentally-friendly raw material.
For starters, there is crop rotation. The producers of the best soybeans often rotate soybean cultivation with other crops to maintain soil health. This practice also helps to naturally reduce the pest population, leading to healthier plants and a better yield. Soybean farmers may also use fertilisers to support growth, while the nitrogen-fixing bacteria on soybean roots also enhance soil fertility. Natural farming practices like minimal tillage reduce erosion. Finally, integrated pest management strategies, which minimise chemical usage, are a sign of healthy, planet-friendly cultivation.
All of these factors, as well as the timing of planting and harvesting, are critical because they directly impact the quality and quantity of soybeans produced. As a result, they also influence the quality of the oil produced. So make sure you get this first step of sourcing raw materials right.
Harvest. Cultivation isn’t done with just planting and nurturing the crop. The farmers you source from must also harvest the crop properly and at the right time. Plus, they should store the soybeans appropriately before they can be transported to you.
Harvesting is generally done in late summer or early fall, when the crop is fully mature. Farmers use combines to do this efficiently, separating the beans or seeds from the pods and stalks. They must ensure that during harvest, there is minimal damage to the seed and minimal contamination from foreign materials.
The techniques used are key, as is the timing of the harvest. Harvesting too soon or too late can affect not only oil quality but also yield. So the best soybean producers closely monitor the ripeness of the beans and only harvest them at their peak. Technology can help ensure the quality, efficiency, and consistency of the process.
Storage. Next comes storage. The best raw materials for soybean oil production are stored properly to avoid degradation and spoilage from humidity or contamination. Proper soybean storage requires silos or warehouses with controlled internal environments, so that temperature and humidity levels can be adjusted and monitored.
Often overlooked, storage is as important as any other step in soybean oil production. You could source soybeans that are cultivated using the best practices, but if the storage solutions used aren’t right, the soybeans can lose their suitability for soybean oil extraction.
Thus far, we’ve covered the steps that come before you, the soybean oil manufacturer, are directly involved. In part two of this blog post, we focus more on your role. From oilseed preparation to the soybean oil extraction process to refining and packaging, we’ll cover all you need to know to get started in your journey of setting up a soybean oil manufacturing plant.
Stay tuned for the final part of this ultimate guide to the soybean oil manufacturing process.
Welcome to part two of this blog post on the soybean oil manufacturing process. In the first part of this series, we’ve already covered the preliminary step, i.e. sourcing, that comes before the actual soybean oil extraction process.
Now, we move on to the parts of the soybean oil manufacturing process that you control directly. Think oilseed preparation, extraction (be it mechanical or solvent extraction), crude soybean oil refining, packaging, and value addition.
Oilseed preparation: Laying a solid foundation for the soybean oil extraction process
Preparing the oilseeds for the soybean oil extraction process involves cleaning, drying, crushing, dehulling, conditioning, and flaking them.
Cleaning. Once you’ve sourced your soybeans and transported them to your soybean oil manufacturing plant, you must clean them thoroughly to remove dust, dirt, stones, and any other foreign particles. You will have to invest in specialised equipment for seed cleaning.
Drying. To ensure a smoother soybean oil extraction process, you must also reduce the moisture content of your feedstock using drying equipment.
Crushing. The clean and dry soybeans must be sent through crushers to break them up into smaller pieces.
Dehulling. In addition to crushing, the inner bean (or cotyledon) of the clean and dry soybeans must also be separated from their outer shells (or hulls). The hulls don’t contain any oil, and their presence could interfere with the soybean oil extraction process and reduce the quality of the product. The cotyledons that are left behind are what are processed further to produce soybean oil.
Conditioning. The next step in the soybean preparation process is conditioning. This essentially involves heating the cotyledons to about 71°C to make them pliable and better suited to extraction.
Flaking. Flaking, the last step in the preparatory phase, involves passing the conditioned soybeans through rollers to press them into thin flakes. This improves the surface area of the soybeans and enables oil to be released more efficiently.
The soybean oil extraction process
The prepared soybeans are then processed to extract the oil content in them. This can be done using mechanical extraction, solvent extraction, or a combination of these two methods.
Mechanical extraction or pressing. Used more commonly for small-scale production, mechanical extraction or expeller pressing involves crushing the soybeans so that the oil is expelled from them. This process leaves behind a solid residue known as soybean meal. Soybean meal has a high protein content and may be redirected to other industries, like animal feed production, where it has a high value.
While mechanical extraction produces high-quality, more nutrient-dense oils than solvent extraction, it yields only about 60 to 70% of the total oil present in the soybeans.
Solvent extraction. Solvent extraction, on the other hand, involves the use of a solvent like hexane to extract a comparatively large quantity of oil from the feedstock.
In this process, the prepared soybeans are mixed with a solvent that dissolves the oil in them. The solvent-oil miscella is separated from the solid component of the soybeans. After this, the solvent and oil are separated. Additionally, the residual solvent is also recovered from the soybean meal.
Solvent extraction is the preferred method in the industrial soybean oil manufacturing process because of its high yield of up to 98%.
Refining crude soybean oil
While oil extraction is the central process in the entire soybean oil manufacturing process, it doesn’t produce an oil that is readily usable by consumers. The crude soybean oil must be refined to improve its colour, flavour, and shelf life. This process involves the steps of degumming, neutralisation, bleaching, deodorisation and sometimes, even winterisation.
Degumming. Crude soybean oil contains impurities like gums and phospholipids. Degumming is the process used to eliminate these impurities. Hot water or acid is added to the oil to separate and remove the gums. Not only does this improve the clarity of the oil, but it also enhances its stability for storage.
Neutralisation. In this step, the free fatty acids in the crude soybean oil are neutralised using an alkali solution, typically sodium hydroxide.
Bleaching. In this step, crude oil is passed through bleaching clay or activated carbon. This removes pigments and other impurities, making the colour of the oil lighter and more appealing to consumers.
Deodorisation. Crude soybean oil is heated under conditions of vacuum to remove undesired odours and/or flavours which occur due to the presence of volatile compounds. This step gives soybean oil its neutral taste.
Winterisation. This step isn’t always necessary. It is common mainly when the end use of the soybean oil is a salad dressing or other cold food product. Winterisation removes waxes or fats that cause cloudiness at low temperatures.
Bringing soybean oil from factory to kitchen: Packaging solutions
In the journey of bringing soybean oil from farm to table, packaging is the final step.
Soybean oil manufacturing plants bottle the oil in different sizes and formats based on the intended final use of the product. The quality of the packaging is important because it is responsible for preserving the freshness, quality, and shelf life of the oil.
Some soybean oil manufacturing plants also use innovative solutions like airtight seals and non-drip spouts to maintain the quality and integrity of the oil as well as enhance the user experience. Plastic, glass, and metal are common packaging materials used; soybean oil manufacturers choose from among these materials based on cost, consumer preferences, sustainability, and other factors.
Setting up a soybean oil manufacturing plant? We’ve got you
The journey of setting up a soybean oil manufacturing plant is not a solitary one; there are far too many components and experts required to piece the entire project together.
As project engineering experts with over 80 years of experience in the oils and seeds industry, we’re proud to have the expertise, experience, and resources to help you build a turnkey solution for soybean oil production.
Our expert team is always happy to discuss how we can solve for you. Get in touch with us today!
