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Analysis of Edible Oils and Fats
Fats are an important component of our diet because they
contain essential substances as polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Fats are also necessary for absorbing the essential fat-soluble
vitamins (A, D, E and K) which are beneficial for our health.
Therefore at least a minimal intake of fat is necessary. Providing
9 kcal of energy per gram, fats are a very concentrated source
of energy for the human body. Fat is primarily found in meat
and dairy products but also in plants (e.g. seeds, soybeans,
olives, nuts). Most foods contain some fat.
The main components of a basic unit of fat are three fatty
acids individually bound to glycerol.
- Especially animal fats and food containing animal fats
(e.g. lard, butter, meat sausages) as well as fats from
tropical plants (coconut fat, palm fat) are rich in saturated
fatty acids.
- Whereas saturated fatty acids do not posses any carbon-carbon
double bonds, monounsaturated fatty acids
do have one. Examples of vegetable oils rich in monounsaturated
fatty acids are olive oil, rape oil and peanut oil. These
also contain high amounts of oleic acid.
- When there is more than one carbon-carbon double bond
present in a fatty acid then it is polyunsaturated.
Most vegetables contain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Examples
of oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids are safflower
oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil and cottonseed
oil. Fish also contain large amounts of unsaturated fatty
acids.
Metrohm has a variety of proven methods
and instrumentation for the determination of the quality of
fats and oils at hand. Find some examples here:
Or
simply send us your question!
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