OILS FATS AND SOAPS

OILS AND FATS

Fats and oils belongs to the naturally occurring group of compounds called
lipids -(Greek, lipos = fat). Lipids are constituents of plants and animals that
are insoluble in water. but soluble in organic solvents. They are one of the
three major 'food factors' needed for human body along with proteins and
carbohydrates. Fats and oils are widely distributed in the food and are of
great nutritional value. They provide concentrated energy in animal body for
maintaining optimum body temperature. One gram of metabolised fat or oil
yields 9 kcal, while the corresponding values for carbohydrate and protein
are 4 and 5.5 kcal respectively. Not only the edible fats and oils occupy
important dietary factors but they also find use as raw materials for the
manufacture of soaps, detergents, paints, varnishes, polishes, glycerol,
lubricants, inks, pharmaceuticals etc. Today about 40 million tonnes of oils
and fats are used per year for both nutritional and industrial purposes.

Structure and Composition of Some Common Oils and Fats

Like most organic materials, Oils and fats are made up of three elements
Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. Natural fats and oils are triesters of glycerol
with long chain carboxylic acids (generally 12-18 carbons). These are known
as triglycerides.

1
The approximate percentage composition of fatty acids in some common
mixed triglycerides is as follows:

CLASSIFICATION
Fats and oils are classified on the basis of their sources as follows.
1. Animal fats are located particularly in adipose tissue cells. In human body
about 12% of its total weight is fat. At least half of it forms a protective heat
insulating subcutaneous layer, while rest of it is found intermuscular
connecting tissues, bones and around nervous tissues, kidney, heart and
other organs. Butter and ghee are special type of animal fat since they are
obtained from milk.
2. Vegetable oils are chiefly present in seeds and nuts of plants. There are
quite a few seeds and nuts which are rich in fat content. Thus soya bean,
ground nut, coconut, palm kernel, mustard, sesame seed and niger are
important sources of edible oils. Cotton seed, linseed, castor seed give non
edible oils in various industries.
3. Marine oils are obtained from water animals such as sardine, salmons,
whales, dolphins etc. Fats and oils are also classified on the basis of their
chemical composition and nutritional importance as follows.

2
 1. Saturated Fats
Certain fatty acids are 'naturally saturated' in that they cannot be made
'harder' than they are in nature. Saturated fatty acids are extremely stable
i.e. they do not easily become rancid, meaning they have good keeping
properties (shelf life). However, nutritional expert advice consumers' to limit
their intake of saturated fats as they can increase blood cholesterol levels,
one of the major factors in heart disease. Most animal fats such as meat,
butter, cheese and cream contain relatively high levels of saturated fat and
as such should be eaten in moderation. Many baked goods such as cakes,
biscuits and pastries can also behigh in saturated fat.
2. Unsaturated Fats
There are three types of unsaturated fatty adds:
a) Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFf\.) Fatty acids contain one double bond
in their chemical make-up. They are relatively stable to oxidation and the
development of rancidity and are now considered, in nutritional terms, as
being the best type of fat to eat. The most common sources are Olive Oil and
Rapeseed oils.
b) Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) Polyunsaturated fatty acids contain
two or more double bonds in their chemical make-up. They are least stable
fatty acids to is Sunflower seed oil
c) Trans Fatty Acids (TFA) Trans fatty acids typically come from two sources,
hydrogenated vegetable oils and animal fats. Recent scientific research
suggestsconsumption should be avoided due to their negative effect on
blood cholesterol levels.

3
PROPERTIES OF OILS AND FATS
Physical Properties: Oils and fats are either liquids or non-crystalline solids at
room temperature. They are colourless, odourless and tasteless. They are
insoluble and lighter than water but are readily soluble in common organic
solvents. They are poor conductors of heat and electricity and hence serve
excellent insulators for animal body.
Chemical Properties : Oils and Fats are triestersof glycerol with saturated
or unsaturated fatty acids. Therefore oils and fats give.reactions typical of
esters and double bonds.

1. Hydrolysis (Saponification)
Oils and fats are hydrolysed by heating with acids or alkalies. When boiled
with sodium or potassium hydroxide solution they give glycerol and sodium
or potassium salts of longchain fatty acids which are called as soaps. This
process is known as saponification.

Saponification value (Sap value) of an oil or fat is defined as the number of

milligrams of
potassium hydroxide required to completely hydrolyse (saponify) one
grarrsof oil or fat.
The saponification value gives an estimate of the molecular mass of oil or
fat. The smaller
the value, higher is the molecular mass.Thus it is a characteristic of a
particular oil or fat.

4
When hydrolysed with mineral acid, the products are glycerol and fatty acids
which are waxy
solids and are used in candle industry.

2. Hydrogenation (Hardening) of Oils

Vegetable oils are triglycerides of unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic and
linoleic acid.
When treated with hydrogen in presence of nickel catalyst it forms saturated
glycerides. This
reaction is similar to catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes. The result is
transformation of a
liquid glyceride (oil) into a semi-solid glyceride (fat).

The above reaction forms the basis for the industrial production of
hydrogenated oil (Vanaspati ghee/Dalda). This process is also known as
hardening of oils since it converts liquid oil into solid fat by raising its melting
point. Vanaspati ghee or dalda is preferred over oils for convenience, better
appearance and taste and its stability to turn rancid. In India, the main oil
stock used for making vanaspati ghee is groundnut oil and cottonseed oil.

5
3. Hydrogenolysis
Treatment of triglycerides with hydrogen at high temperature and pressure
in presence of copper chromite catalyst gives glycerol and long chain fatty
alcohols. The process is called as hydrogenolysis (hydrogenation involving
cleavage). The long chain alcohols are used in the manufacture of synthetic
detergents.

4. Rancidity
When an oil or fat are left exposed to moist air, they develop a disagreeable
odour and sour taste. They are said to become rancid. The rancidity is
caused due to two types of processes
i) Oxidative rancidity involves the oxidation of carbon-carbon double bonds
in fatty acid chain to produce short chain aldehydes and acids. This type of
rancidity is prevented by adding antioxidants (0.01 %) like vitamin E or
vitamin C.
ii) Hydrolytic rancidity involves the hydrolysis of one or more ester linkages
to produce acids. It is particularly applicable to butter. Microorganisms
present in air furnish enzyme lipase that catalyses the hydrolytic process.
This type of rancidity is prevented by storing it in refrigerator.

EXTRACTION OF OILS FROM OIL SEEDS

Oils and fats are extracted from their natural sources by several methods.
1. Hydraulic pressing

6
Oils are extracted from various seeds (e.g. sunflower, groundnut, soyabean,
mustard etc.). The seeds are first cleaned, dried and then grinded in
specially designed mechanical grinders till all the oil comes out. The oil is
then taken out by hydraulic pressing and then passing through specially
designed porous filters under pressure. The collected oil is treated with mild
alkali to neutralize any free acid formed during processing. It is then treated
with activated charcoal to remove colouring matter. Some antioxidants such
as vitamin E are added to prevent oil to get rancid. The oil so extracted is
called as refined oil.

2. Solvent Extraction
The pressed material left from above method (exhausted cake/oilseed cake)
still contains oil (about 4%). Most of the exhausted cake is used for cattle
feed or subjected to 'solvent extsaction ' for the recovery of more oil. Solvent
extraction plants use hexane as a solvent to extract oil from oilseed cake.
The solvent is sprayed on oilseed cake on moving belt. The washings are
sent to distillation plant to recover the solvent and the oil is sent to refining
unit. The exhausted cake at the end contains only 0.5-1.0% of the oil and is
used as cattle feed or organic manure. These plants are expensive and only
suitable for large volumes which justify the capital cost of equipment. Where
large amounts of oilseed cake are available, solvent extraction becomes a
commercially-viable option to extract the residual oil left in the cake and
leave an almost oil-free powder known as oilseed meal.

Extraction of Animal Fat

Animal fats are recovered from selected animal material by wet rendering or
dry rendering
i) Wet rendering: The selected material is charged into conical based
cylinder. Steam is blown through cylinder for several hours. After allowing
settling, the floating fat is drawn off. The process is used for extraction of
edible fats such as lard.

7
ii) Dry rendering: This process is carried out in large steam heated tanks. The
fat cells are ruptured and the molten fats are drained off from the bottom.
This process is used for extraction of non-edible oils.

SOAPS
As we have already discussed, soaps are sodium or potassium salt of fatty
acids containing 12-18 carbon atoms. Soaps less than 12 carbon fatty acids
are comparatively soluble in water. Sodium soaps are the common toilet
soaps. Potassium soaps are softer than sodium soaps and hence are used for
special purposes when rapid solution is desired e.g. in making shaving
creams, liquid soaps, shampoo ete. If alcohol is added during processing
then soap becomes transparent. Also some other ingredients such as
perfumes, dyes, germicides are also added depending upon its use.

Manufacture of Soaps
The main source for manufacture of soap is coconut oil. However palm oil,
groundnut oil, cottonseed oil are also used. In practice different oils are
blended to produce a soap having best suited desired properties. Soaps are
manufactured by two methods as follows:
1. Kettle process (Boiling Process)
This method still widely used by small and medium-sized producers is the
classical boiling process. Its object is to produce neat soap in purified
condition, free from glycerin. The manufacture of soap is carried out by the
following steps:
a) Boiling: The fat and sodium hydroxide solution are charged into the tank
(kettle)and boiled with steam at the bottom. Boiling is continued till fat is
saponified to the extent of about 80%.

8
b) Salting Out: Salt i.e. sodium chloride is added and boiling resumed till
soap and glycerol mixture separate out (Soap is insoluble in salt solution
because of common ion effect). The lower layer containing glycerol is drawn
off.

c) Finishing: The upper layer obtained as above is called as 'neat soap'. It is

pumped into the crutcher fitted with a blade stirrer. Here soap· is mixed with
colour, perfumes, germicides ete. till it becomes homogeneous mass. For
making toilet soap, it is made into thin shreds, dried and stamped into cakes.
2. Continuous (Hydrolyser) Process
The boiling process is very time consuming because settling takes days. To
produce soap in quantity, huge kettles mu~t be used. Most continuous
processes today employ fatty acids in the saponification reaction in
preference to natural fats and oils. These acids do not contain impurities and
produce water instead of glycerin when they react with alkali. Hence, it is not
necessary to remove impurities or glycerin from soap produced with fatty

9
acids. Furthermore, control of the entire process is easier and more precise.
It process consist of following steps.
a) Hydrolysis of fat with water in presence of zinc oxide: The continuous
hydrolyser process begins with natural fat that is split into fatty acids and
glycerin by means of water at high temperature _and pressure in the
presence of a zinc oxide catalyst. The splitting reaction is carried on
continuously, usually in a vertical column 50 feet or more in height

b) Distillation of fatty acids under vacuum and the fatty acids are distilled
under vacuum to effect purification.

10
c) Neutralization of the condensed fatty acids with alkali They are then
neutralized with an alkali solution such as sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) to
yield neat soap.

The entire hydrolyser process, from natural fat to final marketable product,
requires a few hours, as compared with the four to ·11 days necessary for
the old boiling process. The by-product glycerin is purified and concentrated
as the fatty acid is being produced. In most of the cases, soap obtained by
above two processes is settled or grained and separated from the spent lye
containing glycerol in solution.

Laundry and Bath Soap

Laundry soaps are formulated to eliminate grease, solid particles and organic
compounds from clothes. They can be found in liquid, powder and gel forms.
Bath soap is a kind of soap made in many forms and special formulations for
specific personal hygiene needs. There are many types of soaps, depending
upon the usage. Some types of the bath soap are medicated soaps,
perfumes soaps, beauty soaps, transparent soaps etc. There are also body
and hair soaps that have a mix of ingredients that cleans both the skin and
hair.

Cleaning Action of Soap

The basic structure of all soaps is essentially the same, consisting of a long
hydrophobic (water-fearing) hydrocarbon "tail" and a hydrophilic (water
loving) anionic "head".

11
The length of the hydrocarbon chain varies with the type of fat or oil but is
usually quite long. The anionic charge on the carboxylate head is usually
balanced by either a positively charged potassium (K +) or sodium (Na+)
cation. Soaps are "surface active" substances (surfactants) and as such
make water better at cleaning surfaces. Water, although a good general
solvent is unfortunately also a substance with a very high surface tension.
Because of this, water molecules generally prefer to stay together rather
than to wet other surfaces. Surfactants work by reducing the surface tension
of water, allowing the water molecules to better wet the surface and thus
increase water's ability to dissolve dirty, oily stains.

(The diagram showing the cleaning action of soap with the electrostatic
interaction between the negative head of the soap and the water molecule
and the non-polar tail of the molecule and the dirt/grease.).
In studying how soap works, it is useful to consider a general rule of nature:
"like dissolves like." The non-polar hydrophobic tails of soap are lipophilic
("oil-loving") and so will embed into the grease and oils that help dirt and
stains adhere to surfaces. The hydrophilic heads, however, remain
surrounded by the water molecules to which they are attracted. As more and
more soap molecules embed into a greasy stain, they eventually surround
and isolate little particles of the grease and form structures called micelles
that are lifted into solution. In a micelle, the tails of the soap molecules are
oriented toward and into the grease, while the heads face outward into the

12
water, resulting in an emulsion of soapy grease particles suspended in the
water.'With agitation, the micelles are dispersed into the water and removed
from the previously dirty surface. In essence, soap molecules partially
dissolve the greasy stain to form the emulsion that is kept suspended in
water until it can be rinsed away Glycerol manufacturing from Spent lye. The
spent lye obtained during the manufacture of soap contain glycerine (5%),
sodium chloride (10%), free alkali (0.4% or less) and some other minor
impurities. The spent lye containing these impurities is transferred into
settling tanks, where suspended impurities settle down. The clear solution is
then taken into treating tanks provided with open steam pipe for heating and
arrangement for agitation by air. Here it is first treated with dilute HCI to
neutralise three-fourth of alkali and then treated with aluminium sulphate. As
a result remaining alkali gets precipitated as removed as aluminium
hydroxide by filtration. The solution is made slightly alkaline and
concentrated in evaporator. The clear solution is then vacuum distilled till
the concentrated solution of glycerol (80%) is obtained. It is further purified
by steam distillation under vacuum.
The overall process can be represented as follows:

QUESTIONS
What are oils and fats and how they differ from each other?
What are oils and fats? Discuss their composition.

13
Discuss classification oils and fats on the basis of their sources.
Discuss classification oils and fats Oil the basis of their chemical composition.
Discuss the following properties of oils and fats :
i) Saponification
ii) Hydrogenation (Hardening)
iii) Hydrogenolysis
iv) Rancidity
Discuss how oils and fats are extracted from their sources?
What are soaps? Describe the kettle or boiling process for manufacture of
soaps.
Describe the continuous or hydrolyser process for manufacture of soaps.
Why it is advantageous than kettle process?
Write a note on : Cleansing action of soap.
Explain the manufacture of glycerol from spent lye.
Explain the following:
i) Saponification value
ii) Hardening of oils.:
iii) Laundry and bath soaps
iv) Rancidity and its preventive measures
Discuss how animal fats are extracted from their sources?

Fill in the Blanks :

When boiled with sodium or potassium hydroxide solution Oils give glycerol
and__________
sodium or potassium salts of long-chain fatty acids. The process is called as
__________
When an oil or fat are left exposed to moist air, they develop a disagreeable
odour and________
sour taste, the phenomenon is called as __ .
When the three -OH groups of glycerol are esterified with same acid (R1=
R2= R3), the triester is known as __

14
When the three -OH groups of glycerol are esterified with two or three
different acids (RI, R2 and R3 are different), they are known as __ .
When treated with hydrogen in presence of nickel catalyst vegetable oils
converts into solid fat forms. This process is also known as __ .
[Ans. : (1) Saponification; (2) Rancidity; (3) Simple glycerides; (4) Mixed
glycerides; (5) Hardening of oils]

C. State True or False:

1. Natural fats and oils are triesters of glycerol with long chain carboxylic
acids.
2. Consumption of Saturated fats has no role in increase in blood cholesterol
level.
3. When boiled with sodium or potassium hydroxide solution Oils give
glycerol and sodium or potassium salts of long-chain fatty acids. The process
is called as hardening of oils.
4. Today, the main source for manufacture of soap is coconut oil.
5. When an oil or fat are left exposed to moist air, they develop a pleasant
odour and sweet taste.
[Ans. : True: 1,4 False: 2, 3, 5]

15
D. Multiple Choice Questions :
1. Fats and oils belongs to the naturally occurring group of compounds called
__ .
a) Carbohydrates b) Lipids
c) Proteins d) Terpens
2. Oils and fats are generally made up of from three elements __ .
a) :C, H & P b) c, a & N
c) C, H & N d) c, H & a
3. When boiled with sodium or potassium hydroxide solution Oils give
glycerol and sodium or potassium salts of long-chain fatty acids. The process
is called as
a) Hydrogenation b) Oxidation
c) Saponification d) Hardening of Oils
4. Microorganisms present in air furnish enzyme __ which catalyses the
hydrolytic process causing oil to become rancid.
a) Lipase b) Polymerase
c) Invertase d) Diastase
5. __ is a kind of soap made in many forms and special formulations for
specific personal hygiene needs
a) Laundry soaps b) Bath soaps c) Grained soaps . d) Settled soaps
[Ans.: (I-b); (2-d); (3-c); (4-a); (5-b)]

16