Chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of cooking oils and their blends

Abstract

Palm oil as a rich source of carotene appears to be the only oil of vegetable origin which can serve as a potent source of vitamin A and monounsaturated fatty acids mainly oleic acid. Considering the nutritive value of crude palm oil this study was directed towards blending of CPO with other commonly used cooking vegetable oils to attain ideal fatty acid composition of SFA:MUFA:PUFA (1:2:1). Palm oil was blended with safflower oil and soybean oil in two different proportions, i.e. CPO:safflower oil (65:35 and 70:30) and CPO:soybean oil (55:45 and 65:35). Chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of crude palm oil and its blends were determined. Saponification value was highest in CPO and lowest in safflower oil. No peroxide value was detected in fresh oils. β-Carotene content was 366.19 μg g −1 in CPO and found absent in safflower and soybean oils. Fat acidity (mg KOH/g) was lowest (0.12) in CPO and highest (0.25) in safflower oil. The fatty acid composition of different oils revealed that palmitic acid was the predominant fatty acid (43.45%) in CPO followed by oleic (40.98%) and linoleic acids (14.67%). However, safflower and soybean oils contained the highest amount of linoleic acid (73.61, 54.22%) followed by oleic (18.23, 22.35%), palmitic (6.27, 11.09%) and stearic acids (1.87, 2.53%), respectively.