Fatty acid composition of vegetable oils

Table 3 Typical fatty acid compositions of vegetable oils and animal fats...

Until two decades ago, the fatty acid composition of vegetable oils was closely related with their origin. The fatty acid profile of sunflower oil was thus defined within namral variation ranges. Current practices, however, are widely based on the production of oilseed of modified fatty acid composition. Several methods have been developed to this end. 

Lubricants Mineral-based lubricants lead the lubricant market. However, with the advancement of the need for biodegradable products, vegetable oils have become popular, because of they are also better lubricants. The fatty acid composition of vegetable oils, however, is one major disadvantage. Oils rich in saturated fatty acids have poor low-temperature flow properties, and those rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids are of low oxidative resistance. Vegetable oils rich in monoun-samrated fatty acids have optimum oxidative stability and low-temperature properties (125). 

II. Fatty Acid Composition of Vegetable Oils and Fats. 478... 

II. FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS... 

Table 1. Average fatty acid composition of vegetable oils, animal fats and fish oils (% by weight)"...

Zambiazi, R. C., Przybylski, R., Zambiazi, M. W. Mendoca, C. B. (2007). Fatty acid composition of vegetable oils and Fats. B.CEPPA, Curitiba., 25, 111-120. 

Table 4.1 Fatty acid composition of vegetable and marine oils (Gooch 1997)... 

Justin Stege (Diversa Corporation) discussed the molecular evolution of enzymes for particular pathways, with a focus on the modification of oil composition. Oleochemical applications for such enzymes include applications as biocatalysts for fatty acid modifications. In a program to integrate production and processing, such enzymes can be used to modify the fatty acid content of vegetable oils in planta. Results show that expressing such new enzymes in oilseed crops has resulted in altered oil composition, and that the features may be used to better design plant-based oils for use as biofuels and as improved renewable feedstocks. 

The fatty acid composition of marine lipids varies significantly, especially when compared with vegetable oils. The fatty acid composition of blubber oil of marine mammals is generally similar to fish oils as it contains a large proportion of long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids. However, the proportion of fatty acids in fish and marine mammals varies considerably (2). 

Kamal-Eldin, A. and Andersson R. 1997. A Multivariate Study of the Correlation between Tocopherol Content and Fatty Acid Composition in Vegetable Oils. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 74 375-380. 

Until recently the fatty acid composition of rapeseed oil was quite different from that of other edible vegetable oils from 40 to 60% of the fatty acid components of rapeseed oil consisted of the long chain fatty acids, erucic and eicosenoic. This unusual fatty acid composition has been the subject of numerous nutritional studies. Detrimental effects attributed to the long chain fatty acid components of rapeseed oil stimulated plant breeders to search for genetically controlled variation in these components. Rape plants which produce seed oil essentially without erucic acid were isolated (Ste-fansson et al., 1961) and this characteristic was incorporated into cultivars suitable for commercial production. The new "low erucic acid" rapeseed oils contain only the fatty acid components found in other edible vegetable oils traditionally used as food in the Western World. 

The success of plant breeders to develop rapeseed cultivars practically devoid of erucic acid stands out as an accomplishment to the potential of genetic manipulation in plants to remove chemical constituents (see Chapter 6). The oil from these new cultivars of rapeseed has an entirely different fatty acid composition compared to the older cultivars of rapeseed, and hence by right should be considered as a new vegetable oil. For example, a typical Canadian and European high erucic acid rapeseed (FHEAR) oil, like mustard oil, is rich in erucic (22 1 n-9) and gandoic (20 1 n-9) acids, while the new low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) oil is rich in oleic acid (18 1 n-9) (Table I). The fatty acid composition of LEAR oil resembles that of peanut and olive oil except for linolenic acid (18 3 n-3), which is found in soybean oil at a similar level. 

The reason for this behaviour is that the fatty acid composition of each oil is slightly different (Eggers, 1996). Del Valle et al, (del Valle et al, 2012) stated that Equation (3) can be applied to systems pure oil + high-pressure CO2 as well as to oil eontaining vegetable substrates, since the initial stages of the extraction process is typically solubility-controlled. Del Valle et al, (del Valle et al, 2012) indicated that data obtained at a process temperature... 

Kapseu, C. and Parmentier, M. (1997) Fatty acid composition of some vegetable oils from Cameroon. Sri. Aliment., 17, 325-331. 

Although Table 1 lists the fatty acid compositions of various lipids, this is not the only or the final arbiter of their classification. As opposed to vegetable fats and oils (other than olive oil), where only one oil is generally identified as originating from an oilseed (e.g., corn oil), a diversity of definitions and specifications is used in the identification of and trade in animal fat products. These often include statements of the allowed limits of any number of quality parameters. 

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