α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is an n−3 fatty acid. It is one of two essential fatty acids, so called because they are necessary for health and cannot be produced within the human body. They must be acquired through diet. ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid found in seeds, nuts, and many common vegetable oils. In terms of its structure, it is named all-cis-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid. In physiological literature, it is listed by its lipid number, 18:3, and (n−3); its isomer GLA is 18:3 (n−6).
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are fats extracted from seeds, or less often, from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are example of fats from other parts of fruits. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature.
Margarine is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking, that was first made in France in 1869. It was created by Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in response to a challenge by Emperor Napoleon III to create a butter substitute from beef tallow for the armed forces and lower classes. First named oleomargarine from Latin for oleum and Greek for margarite, it was later named margarine.
Palm kernel oil is an edible plant oil derived from the kernel of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis. It should not be confused with the other two edible oils derived from palm fruits: palm oil, extracted from the pulp of the oil palm fruit, and coconut oil, extracted from the kernel of the coconut.
The smoke point also known as burning point of an oil or fat is the temperature at which, under specific and defined conditions, it begins to produce a continuous bluish smoke that becomes clearly visible. Smoke point values can vary greatly, depending on factors such as the volume of oil utilized, the size of the container, the presence of air currents, the type and source of light as well as the quality of the oil and its acidity content, otherwise known as free fatty acid (FFA) content. The more FFA an oil contains, the quicker it will break down and start smoking. The higher in quality and the lower in FFA, the higher the smoke point. It is important to consider, however, that the FFA only represents typically less than 1% of the total oil and consequently renders smoke point a poor indicator of the capacity of a fat or oil to withstand heat.
Soybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean. It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils. As a drying oil, processed soybean oil is also used as a base for printing inks and oil paints.
Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of sunflower. Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient. The world's total production of sunflower oil in 2014 was nearly 16 million tonnes, with Ukraine and Russia as the largest producers.
An alkyd is a polyester modified by the addition of fatty acids and other components. They are derived from polyols and a dicarboxylic acid or carboxylic acid anhydride. The term alkyd is a modification of the original name "alcid", reflecting the fact that they are derived from alcohol and organic acids. The inclusion of the fatty acid confers a tendency to form flexible coating. Alkyds are used in paints and in moulds for casting. They are the dominant resin or "binder" in most commercial "oil-based" coatings. Approximately 200,000 tons of alkyd resins are produced each year. The original alkyds were compounds of glycerol and phthalic acid sold under the name Glyptal. These were sold as substitutes for the darker-colored Copal resins, thus creating alkyd varnishes which were much paler in colour. From these, the alkyds we know today were developed.
1-Tetradecanol, or commonly myristyl alcohol (from Myristica fragrans – the nutmeg plant), is a straight-chain saturated fatty alcohol, with the molecular formula C14H30O. It is a white crystalline solid that is practically insoluble in water, soluble in diethyl ether, and slightly soluble in ethanol.
Macadamia oil is the non-volatile oil expressed from the nut meat of the macadamia tree, a native Australian nut. Macadamia oil is sometimes used in food as a frying or salad oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient or fragrance fixative.
Quinoa oil is a vegetable oil extracted from germ of the Chenopodium quinoa, an Andean cereal and has been cultivated since at least 3000 B.C. Quinoa itself has attracted considerable interest as a source of protein, but the oil derived from quinoa is of interest in its own right. Quinoa oil is most similar to corn oil, and is rich in essential fatty acids, linoleic being predominant. Although, quinoa oil contains more essential fatty acids than corn oil. Quinoa yields an average of 5.8% oil by weight, compared to 3-4% for corn (maize), which means it could potentially be used to produce more oil than an amount of corn of the same weight.
Interesterified fat is a type of oil where the fatty acids have been moved from one triglyceride molecule to another. This is generally done to modify the melting point, slow rancidification and create an oil more suitable for deep frying or making margarine with good taste and low saturated fat content. It is not the same as partial hydrogenation which produces trans fatty acids, but interesterified fats used in the food industry can come from hydrogenated fat, for simplicity and frugality.
Oleochemistry is the study of vegetable oils and animal oils and fats, and oleochemicals derived from these fats and oils or from petrochemical feedstocks through physico-chemical modifications or transformation. First used in the making of soaps, oleochemistry is now part of our daily lives where it is found in a wide variety of sectors like food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and industrial. The resulting product can be called Oleochemicals. They are analogous to petrochemicals derived from petroleum.
Enzymatic Interesterification (EIE) is the catalytic reaction that occurs when an enzyme is introduced into oil and rearranges the fatty acids on the glycerol backbone of a triglyceride. Triglycerides are either liquid or solid at room temperature. The rearrangement of the fatty acids that occurs with enzymatic interesterification provides structure and functionality to triglycerides at room temperature. This process adjusts the melting properties, increasing functionality and plasticity in food production applications. One of five different ways of altering melting property profiles, enzymatic interesterification is unlike the more widely used partial hydrogenation method in that it produces no trans fatty acids and lowers saturated fat content.
Palm stearin is the solid fraction of palm oil that is produced by partial crystallization at controlled temperature.
Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed edible oil.
