1. Edible Oil Industry In India
By:- Jainik Shah
Date:- 22/05/2018

2. Introduction
• Edible oil is an important component of the agriculture sector in
India. India is a leading player in this sector and the largest importer
in the world, with inward shipments rising by an average 12 per
cent a year.
• India is the fourth-largest oil seed producing country in the world,
next to USA, China and Brazil. There are nine types of oilseeds that
are produced in India. Soyabean, ground nut and mustard are the
major oilseeds produced in the country.
• The sector is largely dominated by the bulk segment. Unbranded
segment accounts to 75-80% of the total consumption. It comprises
approximately 15,000 oil mills, 600 solvent extraction units, 250
vanaspati, manufacturing units and about 400 refining units.
• The sector is highly dependent on availability of raw material,
domestic production of oil seeds, annual rainfall, global price
fluctuation and consumer preferences

3. Commodity Profile of Edible Oil for February - 2018
 Production Trend of Domestic Oilseeds :-

4. Cont...
 Production Trend of Domestic Edible Oils :-

5. Cont...
 India’s import of major edible oils :-

6. Trade Policy
 Export Policy :-
• At present, export of edible oils is prohibited.
• The following exemptions are permitted from prohibition on export of edible oils:
a) Castor oil
b) Coconut oil from all EDI Ports and through all Land Custom Stations (LCS) on Indo-
Nepal, IndoBangladesh, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Pakistan borders.
c) Deemed export of edible oils (as input raw material) from DTA to 100% EOUs for
production of non-edible goods to be exported
d) Edible oils from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to be
consumed by SEZ units for manufacture of processed food products, subject to
applicable value addition norms
e) Edible oils produced out of minor forest produce, ITC (HS) Code 15159010,
15159020, 15159030, 15159040, 15179010 and 15219020.
f) Organic edible oil subject to export contacts being registered and certified as
‘Organic’ by Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (APEDA).
g) Rice Bran oil bulk.
h) Groundnut oil, Sesame oil, Soya bean oil and Maize (Corn) oil in bulk.

7. Department of Food & Public Distribution
• It seeks to coordinate management of edible oils in the
country through a multi-pronged strategy, namely,
1. Assessment of the domestic demand for edible oils and
its availability from domestic sources. Mismatch of
demand and supply is met through import of edible oils
so as to maintain their prices at reasonable level.
2. It also closely monitors prices of edible oils both in the
domestic and in the international market and initiate
necessary policy measures whenever necessary.

8. Importance of Edible Oils in the
Country’s Economy
1. Oil seeds
2. Edible oils
– are two of the most sensitive essential commodities.
• India is one of the largest producer of oilseeds in the world
and this sector occupies an important position in the
agricultural economy, accounting for the estimated
production of 32.09 million tons of nine cultivated oilseeds
during the year 2016-17 (November-October) as per
4th Advance Estimates released by the Ministry of Agriculture
on 16.08.2017.
• India contributes about 6-7% of the world oilseeds
production. Export of oil meals, oilseeds and minor oils was
about 3.28 million tons in the financial year 2016-17 valued at
Rs 15294 crores.

9. Types of Oils commonly in use in India
• Groundnut
• Mustard
• Rape seed
• Sesame
• Safflower
• Linseed
• Niger seed
• Castor
• Soya bean
• Sunflower
• Coconut
• Palm
• Among the non-
conventional oils
1. Rice bran oil
2. Cotton seed oil
• In addition, oilseeds of
tree and forest origin,
which grow mostly in
tribal inhabited areas,
etc.
India is fortunate in having a wide range of oilseeds crops
grown in its different agro climatic zones like :-

10. Figures pertaining to estimated production of major cultivated
oilseeds, availability of edible oils from all domestic sources
(from Domestic and Import Sources) during the last ten years are
as under: -

11. Consumption Pattern of Edible Oils in India
• India is a vast country and inhabitants of several of its regions have
developed specific preference for certain oils largely depending
upon the oils available in the region.
• For example :-
– People in the South and West prefer groundnut oil while those
in the East and North use mustard, rapeseed oil.
– Likewise several pockets in the South have a preference for
coconut and sesame oil.
– Inhabitants of northern plain are basically consumers of fats and
therefore prefer Vanaspati, a term used to denote a partially
hydrogenated edible oil mixture of oils like soya bean,
sunflower, rice bran and cottonseed oils.
• Many new oils from oilseeds of tree and forest origin have found
their way to the edible pool largely through vanaspati route.

12. Cont...
• Through modern technological means such as physical refining,
bleaching and de-odorization, all oils have been rendered
practically colourless, odourless and tasteless and therefore, have
become easily interchangeable in the kitchen.
• The share of raw oil, refined oil and vanaspati in the total edible oil
market is estimated roughly at 35%, 60% and 5% respectively.
• About 60% of domestic demand of edible oils is met through
imports out of which palm oil, palmolein constitutes about 62%.
• The consumption of refined palmolein (RBD palmolein) as well as its
blending with other oils has increased substantially over the years
and is used extensively in hotels, restaurants and in preparation of
wide varieties of food products.

13. Status of the Vegetable Oil Industry (as on 31.01.2018)

14. Annual Capacity of Different Vegetable Oil
Manufacturing Plants (as on 26.05.2016 )
Name of Plant Annual Capacity(Lakh MT)
Oil Mill expeller 54.9
Solvent Extraction plant 5037.5
Refinery 1544.2
Hydrogenation Plant 50.0
Inter-Esterification Plant 14.9
Margarine/Spreads Plant 6.1
Blended Edible Vegetable Oil Plant 47.2

15. Demand & Supply Scenario
• India plays an important role in the global edible oil market, accounting for
10-12% share of consumption; 6-8% share of oilseed production; 4-6%
share of edible oil production, and 12-14% share of world edible oil
imports for OY16.
• The industry is highly dependent on availability of raw material, domestic
production of oil seeds, annual rainfall, global price fluctuations and
consumer preferences.
• Moreover, production of oilseeds in India is insufficient to meet the
domestic demand for edible oil. Majority of the demand supply gap of
edible oil in India is being filled through imports.
• The demand supply gap is becoming wider mainly due to limited
availability of oil seeds, shifting of acreage to other crops and increase in
demand of edible oil.
• India imports edible oil from Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina and Ukraine
and they contribute about 36%, 23%, 17% and 13% respectively of total
imports.

16. • Around 60 per cent of crude vegetable oil, required for production
of edible oil, is imported due to insufficient domestic cultivation of
oilseeds.
• India's edible oil output to hit all-time high of 7.7 mn tonnes in
2017-18
• Indore-based GGN International, one of India’s largest research
firms, forecasts total edible oil production in the country at 7.66
million tonnes for the oil year (November–October) 2017-18,
compared to 7.05 million tonnes in the previous year.
• With an increase in opening stock of a record 2.42 million tonnes,
India’s edible oil availability from domestic sources is estimated at
an all-time high of over 10 million tonnes.
• The firm forecasts India’s kharif oilseed production at 14.43 million
tonnes for the harvesting season 2017-18, down over 12 per cent
from the previous year’s level of 16.43 million tonnes.
• Meanwhile, the Central Government raised import duty on CPO and
RBD (refined, bleached and diodized) to 15 per cent and 25 per cent
in August from their respective levels of 5 per cent and 15 per cent
earlier.

18. Statistical Charts
• Production of oilseeds and edible oils (in mn
tonnes)

19. Product-wise production of edible oils in India
(in thousand tonnes)

20. Product-wise imports of edible oils in India (in
thousand tonnes)

21. Edible oil imports by India (in million tonnes)

22. Production of major edible oils in world and
India

23. Area under oil seeds in India remains between 22 to 29
million hectares while production of the major oil seeds
remains between 20 to 33 million tonnes.

24. Per capita consumption of edible oil in India vs. World
Sr. No. Year India World
1 2000-2001 11.1 18.95
2 2009-2010 13.3 24.54
3 2016-2017 17 25
• Rising income levels and cheap imports have helped
increase per capita consumption.
• Indian Growth story is very much intact and our
demand will keep growing.

25. Domestic Oil Availability
2016-17 Vs 2017-18
Oil 2016-2017 2017-2018
Groundnut oil 5.70 5.70
Soya 14.4 14.4
Rape Mustard 18.7 18.7
Cotton 12.4 13.2
Rice Bran 9.6 10.0
Others 9.7 8.5
Total 70.5 70.5
• The source of the above data is Govind Bhai and his GGN-
research.

26. Issues in Oilseed Production
• Today, the major problem in oil seeds production is low
productivity.
• India is way behind the developed countries and neighbouring
countries like China in its productivity of oil seeds per hectare.
• Since the increase in production could not keep pace with increased
demand, India became more and more dependent on edible oil
imports.
• One of the biggest constraints to raising oilseed output has been
that production is largely in rain-fed areas.
• Oilseed crops are largely grown under rain-fed condition (>70%)
and are more prone to biotic and a-biotic stresses. Only one fourth
of oilseed producing area remains under the irrigation.

27. Cont...
• Oilseeds are energy rich crops but are grown under energy starved
conditions (with minimum inputs with high risk).
• Majority of oilseed growers (more than 85%) are small and marginal
farmers having poor resource base.
• High seed rate (number of seeds (Kg) to be used per hector or acre
for maximum yield) and cost of seeds coupled with non-availability
of quality seeds of varieties and hybrids.
• Limited adoption of improved varieties and technologies.
• Unorganized marketing infrastructure and procurement
mechanism.
• External price shock on account of dependence on import is a
major challenge in this sector.
• The cultivation of oil seed farms such as palm has long gestation
period of about 3-7 years before the cultivators could actually begin
to derive benefit from thereof.

28. Measures to improve Oilseed Production
• Bringing additional oilseed areas under irrigation
• Promotion of modern crop technology and better dry farming
• Promoting oil palm cultivation.
• Further, there is a need to enlarge the scope of research,
technology diffusion and institutional intervention to re-
energize the oil sector. This would include increase public
research spending in oilseed crops for development of biotic
and antibiotic stress tolerant varieties.
• Strengthen the oilseed crop seed chain, particularly in
groundnut to match the variety specific demand for higher
yield.

29. Cont...
• Provide incentives to private sector participation in
processing and value addition in oilseed crops. Also,
constraints for low capacity utilization should be addressed.
• Ensure availability of key physical (fertilizers, pesticides),
financial (credit facilities, crop insurance) and technical
inputs (extension services) in major crop ecological zones
for oilseed crops.
• Apart from this, other measures would include market
reforms and policies, such as contract farming and public-
private partnership in production and processing, to ensure
a competitive market for oilseeds and edible oil along with
adequate protective measures to avoid unfair competition
from the international markets.

30. Overview of Major Oil Seed Crops
Groundnut
• Groundnut is most important oil seeds of India accounting for half
of the major oilseeds produced in the country.
• Groundnut is predominantly a Kharif crop but is also sown as a Rabi
crop.
• 90-95% of the total area is devoted to kharif crop.
• It is a legume which thrives best in tropical climate and requires
20°C to 30°C temperature; 50-75 cm rainfall.
• The crop is highly susceptible to frost, drought, continuous rain and
stagnant water. It needs dry winder at the time of ripening.
• Well drained light sandy loams, red, yellow and black soils are well
suited for its cultivation. In 2015-16, the top three states producing
ground nut were Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

31. Rapeseed / Mustard
• Mustard is second most important oil seed crop of India after Groundnut.
This planet belongs to cabbage family (Brassica) and farmers in India
mainly grow three species of Mustard as follows:
• India Mustard (Rai / Mohr locally) (Botanical name – Brassica juncea) has
small and reddish brown seeds and accounts for around 70% of total
mustard production in India.
• Mustard or Peeli (Yellow) Sarson (Brassica campestric) has thicker pods
and yellowish brown seeds with thin seed coats.
• Rape Seed or Toria (Brassica napus) has reddish seeds and is mainly grown
in Punjab.
• Mustard seeds have 25-45% oil content and its oil cake makes an
important cattle feed and manure. The plant thrives in north and west
India, mainly Satluj-Ganga plain. Its generally grown as a Rabi crop either
purely or as mixed cropping with wheat or gram or barley.
• India has largest area and highest production of mustard. Currently,
Rajasthan is top Mustard producing state of India, followed by Haryana
and MP.

32. Sesamum (Til)
• The Sesamum seed comprises of 45 to 50 per cent oil
used for cooking purposes and for manufacturing
perfumery and medicines.
• India has the world’s largest area under Sesamum
and is also the largest producer of this crop
accounting for one-third of the world production. Its
mainly a Rainfed crop in India.

33. Linseed
• Linseed (Alsi in Hindi) has a unique drying property
and is suitable for manufacturing of paints,
varnishes, printing ink etc. A small part is used as
edible oil also.
Castor Seed
• Castor seed comprises 50 per cent oil. It is mostly
used in industries.
Palm Oil
• India produces a very small fraction of palm oil but is
one of the largest consumers. Most of India’s palm
oil requirement is met by imports from Indonesia
and Malaysia.

34. Vegetable Oil
• A vegetable oil is a triglyceride extracted from a plant.
• Vegetable oils that are solid at room temperature are
sometimes called vegetable fats.
• In contrast to these triglycerides,
vegetable waxes lack glycerin in their structure.
Although many plant parts may yield oil, in commercial
practice, oil is extracted primarily from seeds.
• On food packaging, the term "vegetable oil" is often
used in ingredients lists instead of specifying the exact
plant being used, especially when the oil used is less
desirable to the consumer or if a mix is used, such
as palm, canola, soybean, and safflower oils,
(whereas coconut oil and olive oil may be perceived as
more desirable)

35. Uses Of Vegetable Oil
• Culinary uses
– Many vegetable oils are consumed directly, or indirectly as
ingredients in food – a role that they share with
some animal fats, including butter, ghee, lard,
and schmaltz.
– Secondly, oils can be heated and used to cook other foods.
• Hydrogenated oils
• Industrial uses
– Many vegetable oils are used to make soaps, skin
products, candles, perfumes and other personal care
and cosmetic products. Some oils are particularly suitable
as drying oils, and are used in making paints and other
wood treatment products.

36. Cont...
• Pet food additive
– Vegetable oil is used in production of some pet
foods. AAFCO defines vegetable oil, in this context, as the
product of vegetable origin obtained by extracting the oil
from seeds or fruits which are processed for edible
purposes.
• Fuel
– Vegetable oils are also used to make biodiesel, which can
be used like conventional diesel.

37. Cooking Oils
• 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.
• Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some
oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm
oil and palm kernel oil are solid.
• There are a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such
as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil(rapeseed oil), corn
oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils
like butter and lard.
• Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such
as herbs, chillies or garlic.

38. Edible Oils
• Edible oils are most often plant-based oils, which are
similar, if not the same as those produced by the industrial
biotech industry for use as bio fuels such as biodiesel, for
use in cosmetics, and in other everyday biotech products.
Edible oils may be solid or liquid at room temperature.
• Plant-derived edible oils consist of carboxylic acids with
long hydrocarbon chains, in contrast to petroleum-based
oils which lack the carboxyl group on the end. The carboxyl
group makes the oils edible, providing a site for
our enzymes to attack and break down the chain in a
process called beta-oxidation. The lengths of the
hydrocarbon chains and whether they are saturated or not,
or unsaturated in a cis or trans conformation, determines
how easily they are metabolized and how healthy or
unhealthy they are as part of our diet.

39. What Are Inedible Oils?
• Edible oils are, of course, differentiated from
inedible oils such as petroleum-based products
(gasoline, fuel oil, and related products). Various
forms of grease and lubricant may also be
considered inedible oils.
• There are, also, a number of plant-based oils that
are inedible for humans--but are very useful for
other purposes (primarily as biofuels).
• These include (among others) jatropha, Karanja,
mahua, linseed, rubber seed, cottonseed and
neem oils.

40. What Are the Most Commonly Used Edible
Oils?
• Coconut oil
• Corn oil
• Cottonseed oil
• Olive oil
• Palm oil
• Peanut oil
• Rapeseed/canola oil
• Safflower oil
• Sesame oil
• Soybean oil
• Sunflower oil

41. Which Edible Oils Are Healthiest for Human
Consumption?
• Edible oils can be broken into three large groups: saturated,
monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated oils. It's easy to distinguish
between these groups:
1. Saturated oils are solid at room temperature; this describes
shortenings, margarines, and a few other commonly eaten oils.
2. Monounsaturated oils are liquid at room temperature but begin to
solidify in the refrigerator. These include olive oil and peanut oil.
3. Polyunsaturated oils remain liquid when at room temperature or
when chilled. These include canola, sunflower, and walnut oils
(among others).
• Saturated oils are considered to be relatively unhealthy because
they can contribute to higher cholesterol levels and heart disease.
Thus, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils are usually a
better choice for overall health.

42. Raw Materials Used in making Edible oil
• The average bottle of cooking oil contains vegetable oil,
with no additives, preservatives, or special flavorings.
• The oil comes from various parts of plants, in most cases
from what are commonly called seeds (including sunflower,
palm kernel, safflower, cotton, sesame, and grapeseed oils)
or nuts (including peanut, soybean, almond, and walnut
oils).
• A few special cases involve merely squeezing the oil from
the flesh of the fruit of the plant.
• For example, coconut oil comes from the coconut's white
meat, palm oil from the pulp of the palm fruit, and olive oil
from the flesh of fresh olives. Atypically, corn oil is derived
from the germ (embryo) of the kernel.

43. Production Process
• The production process of vegetable oil involves the
removal of oil from plant components, typically seeds. This
can be done via mechanical extraction using an oil mill or
chemical extraction using a solvent. The extracted oil can
then be purified and, if required, refined or chemically
altered.
1. Mechanical extraction
• Oils can be removed via mechanical extraction, termed
"crushing" or "pressing.“
• Expeller-pressing extraction is common, though the screw
press, ram press, and ghani (powered mortar and pestle)
are also used.
Method Percentage extracted
Ghani 20–30%
Expellers 34–37%
Solvent 40–43%

44. 2. Solvent extraction
• The processing of vegetable oil in commercial applications is
commonly done by chemical extraction, using solvent
extracts, which produces higher yields and is quicker and less
expensive. The most common solvent is petroleum-
derived hexane.
• Supercritical carbon dioxide can be used as a non-toxic
alternative to other solvents.
3. Hydrogenation
• Oils may be partially hydrogenated to produce various
ingredient oils.
• Hardening vegetable oil is done by raising a blend of
vegetable oil and a catalyst in near-vacuum to very high
temperatures, and introducing hydrogen.

45. 4. Deodorization
• In the processing of edible oils, the oil is heated under vacuum to
near the smoke point, and water is introduced at the bottom of the
oil.
• The water immediately is converted to steam, which bubbles
through the oil, carrying with it any chemicals which are water-
soluble.
• The steam sparging removes impurities that can impart unwanted
flavors and odors to the oil.
5. Extraction and Refinement
 Extraction:
• There are three broad types of oil extraction:
1. Chemical solvent extraction, most commonly using hexane.
2. Pressing, using an expeller press or cold press (pressing at low
temperatures to prevent oil heating).
3. Decanter centrifuge.
• In large-scale industrial oil extraction you will often see some
combination of pressing, chemical extraction and/or centrifuging in
order to extract the maximum amount of oil possible.

46.  Refinement
• Cooking oil can either be unrefined, or refined using one or more of the following
refinement processes (in any combination):
• Distilling, which heats the oil to evaporate off chemical solvents from the
extraction process.
• Degumming, by passing hot water through the oil to precipitate out gums and
proteins that are soluble in water but not in oil, then discarding the water along
with the impurities.
• Neutralization, or deacidification, which treats the oil with sodium hydroxide or
sodium carbonate to pull out free fatty acids, phospholipids, pigments, and waxes.
• Bleaching, which removes "off-colored" components by treatment with fuller's
earth, activated carbon, or activated clays, followed by heating, filtering, then
drying to recoup the oil.
• Dewaxing, or winterizing, improves clarity of oils intended for refrigeration by
dropping them to low temperatures and removing any solids that form.
• Deodorizing, by treating with high-heat pressurized steam to evaporate less stable
compounds that might cause "unusual" odors or tastes.
• Preservative addition, such as BHA and BHT to help preserve oils that have been
made less stable due to high-temperature processing.
• Filtering, a non-chemical process which screens out larger particles, could be
considered a step in refinement, although it doesn't alter the state of the oil.

47. • Cooking oil manufacture involves cleaning the seeds, grinding them,
pressing, and extruding the oil from them. In extracting, a volatile
hydrocarbon such as hexane is used as a solvent. After extracting,
the oil is refined, mixed with an alkaline substance, and washed in a
centrifuge. Further washing and refining follows, and then the oil is
filtered and/or distilled. It is then ready for packaging.

49. General Common Process
1. Handling
2. Cleaning and grinding
3. Pressing
4. Extracting additional oil with solvents
5. Removing solvent traces
6. Refining the oil
7. Packaging the oil

55. Waste cooking oil
 Recycling
• Cooking oil can be recycled. It can be used as animal feed,
directly as fuel, and to produce biodiesel, soap, and other
industrial products.
• In the recycling industry, used cooking oil recovered from
restaurants and food-processing industries (typically
from deep fryers or griddles) is called recycled vegetable oil
(RVO), used vegetable oil (UVO), waste vegetable oil
(WVO), or yellow grease.
• Yellow grease is used to feed livestock, and to make soap,
make-up, clothes, rubber, detergents, and biodiesel fuel.
• Used cooking oil, besides being converted to biodiesel, can
be used directly in modified diesel engines and for heating.

56.  By products/Waste
• The most obvious by-product of the oil making process is oil seed cake.
Most kinds of seed cake are used to make animal feed and low-grade
fertilizer; others are simply disposed of. In the case of cotton, the lint on
the seed is used to make yarn and cellulose that go into such products
as mattresses, rayon, and lacquer. Coconut oil generates several
byproducts, with various uses: desiccated coconut meat (copra) is used in
the confectionery industry; coconut milk can be consumed; and coir, the
fiber from the outer coat, is used to make mats and rope. Since corn oil is
derived from a small portion of the entire kernel, it creates corn meal and
hominy if it is dry milled, and corn starch and corn syrup if it is wet milled.
• Lecithin is a byproduct of the degumming process used in making soybean
oil. This industrially valuable product is used to make animal
feed, chocolate, cosmetics, soap, paint, and plastics—to name just a few
of its diverse uses. Recent research has focused on utilizing the residual oil
seed cake. The cake is high in protein and other nutrients, and researchers
are working to develop methods of processing it into a palatable food that
can be distributed in areas where people lack sufficient protein in their
diets. This goal requires ridding (through additional processing) the oil
seed cake of various undesirable toxins (such as gossypol in cotton seed,
or aflatoxin in peanut meal). Initial results are promising.

57. Chemicals Used In Edible Oil
Sr. No. Chemicals Applications
1 Nickel catalyst Used for edible oil hydrogenation
2 Hexane solvent Used in a solvent extraction process
3 Phosphoric or citric acid to convert the remaining non-hydralable
phospholipids (Ca, Mg salts) into hydratable
phospholipids
4 Sodium hydroxide Neutralising of the free fatty acids
5 Aldehydes and ketones Deodorising to remove volatile components
6 Sulphuric acid The soaps are generally split with sulphuric acid to
recover free fatty acids
7 Sodium sulphate Used with sulphuric acid
8 Spent flakes Spent flakes are saturated with solvent
9 Activated Clays for removal of soluble impurities and trace metals
from edible oil

58. • Triglycerides are the predominant component of most food fats and oils. A
triglyceride is composed of glycerol and three fatty acids.
• Mono- and diglycerides are mono- and diesters of fatty acids and glycerol.
They are used frequently in foods as emulsifiers.
• Free fatty acids are the unattached fatty acids present in a fat.
• Phosphatides consist of alcohols (usually glycerol), combined with fatty
acids, phosphoric acid, and a nitrogen-containing
compound. Phosphatides are an important source of natural emulsifiers
marketed as lecithin.
• Vegetable oil sterols collectively are termed "phytosterols“. Cholesterol is
the primary animal fat sterol and is only found in vegetable oils in trace
amounts. Stigmasterol and sitosterol are the best-known vegetable oil
sterols. Sitosterol has been shown to reduce both serum and LDL
cholesterol when incorporated into margarines, margarine spreads, salad
dressings and various other food products
• Tocopherols are important minor constituents of most vegetable fats.
They serve as antioxidants to delayrancidity and as sources of the
essential nutrient vitamin E.
• Carotenoids are colour materials occurring naturally in fats and oils. Most
range in colour from yellow to deep red.

59. • The main components of edible fats and oils are triglycerides. The minor
components include mono- and diglycerides, free fatty acids,
phosphatides, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins, tocopherols, pigments, waxes,
and fatty alcohols. The free fatty acid content of crude oil varies widely
based on the source. Other than the free fatty acids, crude vegetable oils
contain approximately two percent of these minor components. Animal
fats contain smaller amounts.
• Pigments: Carotenoids are yellow to deep red colour materials that occur
naturally in fats and oils. They consist mainly of carotenes such as
lycopene, and xanthophylls such as lutein.
• Fatty Alcohols: Long chain alcohols are of little importance in most edible
fats. A small amount esterified with fatty acids is present in waxes found in
some vegetable oils.
• Fatty acids can be classified according to their saturation, i.e. number of
double bonds:
• Saturated fatty acids (SAFAs) have no double bonds, e.g. myristic, lauric
palmitic and stearic acids.
• Fatty acids containing one or more double bonds are known as
unsaturated.
• While monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) have one double bond (e.g.
erucic, oleic, palmitoleic, myristoleic, gadoleic), polyunsaturated fatty
acids (PUFAs) have two or more double bonds (e.g. linoleic linolenic,
arachidic).

60. Thank You