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Out of the two dozen countries that constitute what is generally called “Asia”, some are the largest in the world while others are islands with smaller populations. When looking at oilseeds and vegetable oils in the region, one is faced with the same huge diversity which makes it complex to analyze, all the more that statistics are not easily available for many countries. Aside from the large differences in size, the region covers a wide spectrum of diversified climate environments. Asia is also mainly characterized by its huge population which has become largely urban, a key factor leading to the impressive growth of vegetable oil demand in the past 30 years. At an verage of 23.2 kg/year, Asian per capita consumption of oils and fats still remains slightly below the world average of 28.3 kg/capita/year. Therefore, although 53% of the world population is located in Asia, only 45% of world oils and fats is consumed in the region. As detailed in the paper, the world of Asian oilseeds and vegetable oils is highly concentrated on soybeans and palm oil. In spite of a large domestic production in China (12.3 MnT), soybeans are imported in huge quantities, mostly by China (78 MnT, 84% of the region’s imports) where more than 28% of world soybeans production is being crushed. Palm oil, the second large commodity consumed in the region, is mainly produced within the region, mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia. So where is the “world of diversity”? Hidden behind those two dominant commodities, practically all of the ten oilseeds constituting the core of the world production are grown in significant quantities in the region while, for vegetable oils, all those of significant importance are produced within the region with the exception of olive oil. The main question that should be kept in mind when reviewing this large regional demand is under what condition will future vegetable oil production be able to meet the expected rise of per capita oils and fats demand within the region, particularly from the three largest populated countries that are China, India and Indonesia.

The technological process of materials grinding, especially biological material with high oil content, is quite complex. There are several parameters that impact the performance and quality of the process (e.g. temperature, rotational speed). One of them is the air velocity at pneumatic conveying of grinding particles. The phenomena of pneumatic transport of seeds and its impact on product’s quality and grinding capacity is not methodologically recognized so far. The paper presents the construction details of measurement and control system and results of the research obtained during the laboratory tests. The results of the tests and their analysis will be used for design of a commercial precise grinder, which allowed to reach the optimum product’s capacity and quality, constituting the basis for biological diet supplements.

Oil and meal from rapeseed, sunflower and soya are classically used in food and feed and in non-food at a less extent. A particular case has to be underlined for soya, the protein fraction of which can be used in food as protein concentrates or protein isolates. In all these cases, oilseeds are processed by classical methods applied for many years without marked evolutions. Nevertheless, some trends are being observed in response to specific nutritional demands emerging from consumers with food safety concerns. New ways for valorization of oilseed end-products are being identified and their development is close conditioned by modification of classical processes or defining and setting of new flowsheets. Some significant projects are described in this paper.