Datetime: 2024-11-22 06:29:00 Visit: 6854
In this blog post, you can find out what cooking oil is, how it is made, how to test cooking oil, and the important parameters used to analyze the quality and safety of cooking oil.
What is cooking oil?
Edible fats or edible oils are oils suitable for human consumption, mainly used in food or cosmetics, which contain important vitamins as well as saturated and/or unsaturated fatty acids. Edible fats and edible oils are mainly composed of water-insoluble glycerides (esters produced by esterification of fatty acids and glycerol).
Oils and fats are generally classified according to whether they are solid or liquid at room temperature, with the basic distinction being between vegetable fats (from seeds and fruits of oilseed crops) and animal fats (fats from animals). However, synthetic edible oils and fats can also be produced from raw materials by chemical processes (e.g., Fischer-Tropsch synthesis).
In general, the higher the proportion of unsaturated fats (especially polyunsaturated fatty acids), the healthier it is to consume fats or cooking oils. Sunflower, canola, safflower, soybean and olive oils are particularly high in unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and while they can be used in cooking and frying, they are best eaten in their natural state. Coconut oil, palm kernel oil, milk fat and palm oil are very high in saturated fat and are mainly used in baking, grilling, frying and in the manufacture of industrial soaps or cosmetics.
Edible oil storage and quality considerations
Shelf life and product quality are very important considerations. During storage, edible oils and fats may ferment, deteriorate, or become contaminated with natural substances or trace pesticides associated with the oil source, or even be intentionally adulterated.
In the process of autoxidation, long-chain fatty acids degrade to form short-chain compounds (e.g., butyric acid), resulting in rancid deterioration of edible oils. The hydrolysis of fats and fats will promote the cleavage of triglycerides to form free fatty acids, glycerol monoesters and diglycerol esters, and these free fatty acids will further undergo autooxidation. In addition, the oxidation of triglycerides will form carboxylic acids with glycerol as the skeleton, thus increasing the acidity of the oil.
The quality of cooking oil can be evaluated by a number of different parameters. Among them, the more important parameters include: water content, oxidation stability, iodine value, peroxide value, saponification value, acid value, free fatty acid, fatty acid composition, hydroxyl value and oxidation index, can be determined by measuring the above parameters to determine whether the edible oil is suitable for consumption.
