Process and apparatus for the thermal conditioning and the pretreatment of oil seeds and oil fruits, particularly leguminous seeds

摘要

A process for the treatment of vegetable raw material such as soy beans is disclosed wherein the vegetable raw material is subjected to one of the following: (1) an extraction step, (2) a compressing step, and (3) an extraction step and a compressing step. In addition to one of the three aforementioned procedures, the vegetable raw material is also subjected to a thermal conditioning step in which the material is heated to a temperature above 100 degrees Celsius and a pressure above atmospheric pressure in an oxygen-free atmosphere. According to the process of the present invention, the thermal conditioning step is carried out at a pressure of 2.0 to 25 bar for a time period of between 0.1 and 5 seconds and, after the time period, the process calls for suddenly releasing the pressure, moving the heated material into an oxygen-free zone, and cooling the heated material to a temperature below 100 degrees Celsius in the oxygen-free zone.