1.Harvesting and Drying of Camellia Seeds
Harvest camellia seeds when fully ripe. Spread them flat in a ventilated, sunny area to dry for 10–15 days, turning them regularly to reduce moisture content to approximately 10%. Sort out and remove shriveled seeds and impurities.
2.Shelling and Screening
Use a shelling machine to remove the outer shells of camellia seeds. Separate pure camellia seed kernels through winnowing and sieving to reduce impurities in subsequent pressing.
3.Crushing and Steaming
Feed camellia seed kernels into a crusher to break them into 4–8 pieces. Then place them in a steamer and steam at 100°C for about 40 minutes to fully soften the kernels and break down oil cell structures.
4.Cake Forming and Pressing
Wrap the steamed camellia seed kernels into round cakes and load them into a hydraulic oil press. Perform low-temperature pressing at 500 atmospheres and collect the crude oil from the initial pressing.
5.Crude Oil Filtration
Filter the crude oil preliminarily with a plate-and-frame filter to remove fine camellia seed residues and suspended impurities.
6.Degumming and Deacidification
Add an appropriate amount of phosphoric acid and hot water to the filtered crude oil, stir evenly, then let it stand for precipitation to separate and remove gums and free fatty acids.
7.Decolorization and Deodorization
Transfer the treated oil to a decolorization tank and add activated clay to absorb pigments and odorous substances. Then conduct deodorization under high-temperature and high-vacuum conditions to further remove residual odors.
8.Finished Product Filling
Cool the refined camellia seed oil, fill it into sterilized sealed containers, label the containers, and store them in the warehouse.