Vegetable Oils
Reporter: Soriano, Jerico B.
BS Biology – 4B
ORIGIN
Such oils have been part of human culture for millennia. Oils such as
poppy seed, rapeseed, linseed, almond oil, sesame seed, safflower, and
cottonseed were variously used since at least the Bronze Age in the
Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Vegetable oils have been used for
lighting fuel, cooking, medicine and lubrication. The Chinese started to
use vegetable oil for stir-frying instead of animal fats during the Song
dynasty (960–1279). Palm oil has long been recognized in West and
Central African countries, and European merchants trading with West
Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use as a cooking oil in Europe
and it became highly sought-after commodity by British traders for use as
an industrial lubricant for machinery during Britain's Industrial
Revolution. Palm oil formed the basis of soap products, such as Lever
Brothers' (now Unilever) "Sunlight" soap, and the American Palmolive
brand, and by around 1870, palm oil constituted the primary export of
some West African countries.
Where is the oil located?
Plants use stored oil as food for germinating
embryo, caloric content is high so is efficient
storage material. Double that of carbohydrates
and proteins.
Oil can be stored in endosperm (castor, coconut),
cotyledons (peanut, soybean), scutellum (corn),
fruit pulp (palms and olives).
Seeds have organelles called as glyxosomes that
convert fatty acids into carbohydrates during
germination.
Oils
Mainly hydrocarbons made up of
Glycerol (backbone) with three fatty acids chemically bonded to it -
triglycerides
Cholesterol
Unsaturation
The number of double bonds determines the
level of saturation.
Vegetable oils are complex mixtures and
saturation levels cannot be calculated directly
very easily;
% saturation is determined by Iodine method,
Iodine breaks ='s and is incorporated.
Amount of Iodine left over is determined.
Iodine values range from 7 to >200. 70 are
called fats (solid at room temperature) and
higher values correspond to more
unsaturation.
Unsaturation and Iodine Value
Drying - >150 thin film will dry into impervious coating
Semidrying - 100-150
Nondrying - 70-100
Fats 70
[Link]
Soap making
Soap is salt of fatty acid
+3NaOH
3 RCOO-
Na+
+
Soap Making
Water lye (Base)
Add oil or fat
Glycerol and fatty acids separate
Fatty acids will react with base to form salt of fatty acid
Head which is soluble in water
Tail soluble in oil
Oil Paints and Varnishes
Drying or semidrying oils (linseed & tung oil)
oil paints are boiled with heavy metal containing
compounds (Mg, Co, Pb) which help oils absorb
oxygen and form a hard film;
varnishes are produced by mixing boiled oils with
resins or gums;
enamels are varnishes + pigments;
paints do not contain gums or resins
Latex paints - alkyd resins which are
manufactured from fatty acids cleaved from
vegetable oils, water soluble
Linoleum and Jojoba
Made up of Oils + gums + synthetic resins +
pigments;
oils are "blown" which thickens them and makes them
soluble in petroleum oils (resins)
linoleum is not used much in U.S. anymore.
Jojoba - oils is esters rather than triglycerides,
originally thought to be good substitute for
sperm oil but is not because of high temperature
breakdown; however is useful in medicine and
cosmetics.
Extraction
Grinding with stones
- cold pressing – high quality
Steam driven stone press
hot pressing
Screw press - continuous feed
Solvent extraction - follows screw press, hexane
Refining
Removal of free fatty acids
Degumming - removes mucilaginous material
Bleaching - removal of pigments
Deodorized - steam heating
Winterize - prevents clouding by chilling oil and
filtering out particles.
Hydrogenation - yields vegetable lards,
margarine and cheese substitutes
Drying Oils
High in double bonds in FA
Linseed oil - Linum usitatissimum, seeds, water-
repellent glaze
mostly non-edible oils
due to unpleasant flavor
Cyanogenic glycosidesand
rapid rancidity due to lots of double bonds.
also source of flax
Tung oil - Aleurites (Euphorbiaceae), seeds,
poisonous (not edible), used in paints, waterproof
coverings and caulking. Once grown in U.S. but
most now comes from China.
Semi-drying Oil
Few double bonds in FA
Safflower oil - Carthamus tinctorius, thistles, oil is from seeds, used in cooking oils, salad
dressings, margarine, high I value so low in calories but oxidizes readily
Produces dye
Soybean oil – Glycine max already covered, stores well, used in salad and cooking oils and
artificial "fluffy" products.
Sunflower oil - Helianthus annuus - native North American plant but development of large-headed
cultivars is largely credited to Russians; used as salad and cooking oil; paints, varnishes and resins;
added to diesel fuel.
Considered equal to olive oil, used for production of margarines.
Corn oil – Zea mays salad dressing and margarines, stable but smokes at high temp.
Sesame oil - Sesamum indicum, from Ethiopia, highly resistant to oxidation due an antioxidant
compound called sesamolin, most is consumed and produced in Africa, Middle East, India and
China
Cottonseed oil – Gossypium barbedensis byproduct of cotton fiber production, must remove
gossypol (toxic to most animals except cows); Wesson oil, hydrogenation ---> Crisco
Rapeseed oil - Brassica napus, edible oil but possibly toxic, most useful as machine oil as an
lubricant
Non-drying Oil
Peanut oil - Arachis hypogaea, premium cooking
oil
Olive oil - Olea europea, obtained from fruit
pulp,
Gentle pressing of the olive – virgin oil
Further pressing – first, second grade oils
Has monounsaturated fat – good for health.
Castor oil - Ricinus communis
Laxative – ricinoleic acid
poison - ricine (alkaloid) and ricin (highly toxic
protein); used in soaps, paints, lubricants
Vegetable Fat
Oil palms - Elaeis guinensis, distinct oils are obtained from
fruit pulp and seeds
kept separate due to differences in chemical composition; used in
soap, candles, margarine and shortenings
U.S. diets are avoiding fats and palm oils are taboo.
Coconut oil - Cocos nucifera, cosmetics and nondairy
"dairy" products
At 20oC becomes semisolid; at 15oC becomes brittle
Has free fatty acid – caprylic acid - smell
Shea butter: Butyrospermum parkit
50% saturated fat
Relative effect of fats on Total Cholesterol
Alpha Delta TC
Myristic Palmitic Linoleic
Linolenic Dietary Change in
Oil or Fat acid acid acid
Acid Cholesterol cholesterol
C14:0 C16:0 C18:2
C18:3 level
Butterfat 11 27 2 1 273 1788
Canola oil 0 4 22 10 0 -514
Coconut oil 18 9 2 0 0 1674
Corn oil 0 11 58 1 0 -870
Grape seed oil 0 8 73 0 0 -1196
Lard 2 26 10 0 77 630
Olive oil 0 13 10 1 0 88.6
Safflower oil* 0 7 78 0 0 -1310
Soybean oil 0 11 54 7 0 -908
Sunflower oil* 0 7 68 1 0 -1142
* Not high-oleic
Wax
Long chain alcohol and long chain fatty acid
Jojoba wax: Simmondsia chinensis
Seeds contain liquid wax
Similar to sperm whale oil
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