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Edible oil analysis: A guide for beginners

Jul 29, 2024

Article

In this blog post, you can learn what edible oil is, how it is made, how to test it, and what parameters are important to analyze for quality and safety.
 

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What is edible oil?

Edible fats or cooking oils are considered suitable for human consumption and are mainly used for food or in cosmetic products. They contain important vitamins as well as saturated and/or unsaturated fatty acids. Both edible fats and oils consist mainly of water-insoluble esters of fatty acids and glycerol, called glycerides.

Fats and oils are generally classified according to whether they are solid or liquid at room temperature. A basic differentiation is made between vegetable fats and oils from the seeds and fruits of oil plants, and fats and oils derived from animal sources. However, synthetic edible fats and oils can be produced from raw materials using chemical processes such as the Fischer–Tropsch process.

In general, the higher the proportion of unsaturated fats (especially polyunsaturated fatty acids), the healthier the fat or oil. Sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, and olive oil are particularly high in unsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Although they can be used for cooking and frying, they are best eaten in their natural state. On the other hand, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, butterfat, and palm oil are very high in saturated fats. They are mainly used for baking, roasting, frying, and for manufacturing industrial soaps or cosmetics.

Examples of edible oils (click to expand):