Recovery of sunflower oil with a small screw expeller

Tests were run on a HANDER Oil Expeller processing oil-type sunflower seed. Statistical comparisons were made. Tests compared different lots of sunflower seed. Lot I had 11% (w.b.) moisture content and 39.7% oil content and Lot II had 6% (w.b.) moisture content and 42.6% oil content. Greater expeller capacity and oil output were observed with Lot I. Extraction efficiency was better with Lot II. Tests also involved preheating the sunflower seeds of Lot II to 50, 60, and 75 °C before extraction. There was a large improvement in expeller capacity and oil output compared to seeds processed at room temperature. There was a significant difference in the oil output and efficiency between the three preheat temperatures.