Official Methods and Recommended Practices

D. Firestone, ed. Official Methods and Recommended Practices of theMmerican Oil Chemists Society, 3rd ed,Th.e American Oil Chemists Society, Champaign, lU., 1988. 

The adoption of NMR methods as a standard way to measure SFC is largely due to the work of the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS). Over the past decades they have conducted a series of interlaboratory collaborative trials to revise and improve methodologies and have published their recommendations as Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the AOCS (Firestone, 1998). The methods described here were based on methods Cd 16b-93 and Cd 16-81 of this book, and readers are encouraged to consult the original text. The important advantages of NMR for this application are that it can rapidly and nondestructively measure the number of hydrogen nuclei in the solid or liquid phase and thus the ratio of the amounts of each phase. 

Accurate, precise, sensitive, and rapid analytical determinations are as essential in food science and technology as in chemistry, biochemistry, and other physical and biological sciences. In many cases, the same methodologies are used. How does one, especially a young scientist, select the best methods to use A review of original publications in a given field indicates that some methods are cited repeatedly by many noted researchers and analysts, but with some modifications adapting them to the specific material analyzed. Official analytical methods have been adopted by some professional societies, such as the Official Methods of Analysis (Association of Official Analytical Chemists), Official Methods and Recommendation Practices (American Oil Chemists Society), and Official Methods of Analysis (American Association of Cereal Chemists). 

Anon. 1999. In Firestone, D. (Ed.), Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the AOCS, Cd 12b-92 Oil Stability Index (OSI) (5th ed.). Champaigne IL AOCS Press. 

American Oil Chemists Society, Official Methods and Recommended Practices, Champaign, Ilbnois, 2002. 

Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Oils, Fats and Waxes, in Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the American Oil Chemists Society, AOCS Press, Champaign, Illinois, 1997. 

The American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) has developed and published over 400 methods to measure important lipid quality parameters. These tests are usually specific to the form, the type, and the stage of processing that the lipid is in. Levels of specific contaminants in oils can be determined by using one or more of the Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the American Oil Chemists Society (68). 

AOCS. 1990. Official Method Ce 8-89. Determination of Tocopherols and Tocotrienols in Vegetable Oils and Fats by HPLC, in Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the Am. Oil Chem. Soc. Sampling and Analysis of Commercial Fats and Oils. 4th ed. Champaign, IL Am. Oil Chem. Soc. Press, 5 pp. 

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