Molecular distillation of liquid fraction 2
The palmitoleic acid in liquid fraction 2 obtained from the two-step crystallization was further enriched using molecular distillation in a standard glass evaporator (KDL 1, UIC GmbH, Alzenau-Hoerstein, Germany). Molecular distillation was performed varying the evaporation temperature from 95 °C to 110 °C to obtain a liquid containing a high proportion of palmitoleic acid. The other operation parameters were fixed, and were as follows: a rotation speed of 400 rpm, a feed temperature of 70 °C, a feed rate of 1 mL/min, a vacuum level of 10−3 mbar and a condenser temperature of 55 °C. Finally, the composition of fatty acids was analyzed and the yield of palmitoleic acid was calculated.