Experiments were conducted to study the use of a bubble column to separate oil from dispersions of corn germ particles in buffered aqueous solution. Particles and aggregates as large as 1 mm which contained oil droplets about 1-2 mu m in size were suspended in the dispersions. The dispersion was subsequently heated, dosed with enzyme and pumped into a bubble column. Buoyant fine particles and aggregates were lifted through the 2.9 L of the dispersion in a column by nitrogen bubbles and were incorporated into a foam layer at the top of the liquid. The foam drained from the column through a port a few cm above the top of the dispersion and was collected and subsequently centrifuged to separate a free oil layer. The oil yields were comparable to those obtained by centrifuging entire dispersions churned in an incubator/shaker without the bubbling and foaming. With only endogenous surfactant present in the dispersion, the collected foam comprised a quarter of the dispersion mass and about 3/4 of the dispersion's oil (half as a separate oil layer after centrifugation). The rate of free oil collection was the same whether or not the dispersion was bubbled for several hours prior to foam collection. Published by Elsevier Ltd.