DOI: 10.31127/tuje.1526120 ISSN: 2587-1366

Effects of Heat and Food Items on the Fatty Acids Profile of Palm Oil Produced in Nigeria

Omojola Awogbemi, Emmanuel Ilesanmi Adeyeye, Ayodeji Salami Lawal
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Nigeria is the highest producer of palm oil in Africa and generates huge volume of waste palm oil (WPO), annually. When palm oil is used to fry food items, the fatty acid (FA) profile of the WPO changes significantly. This study investigates the effect of heat and food items on the FA composition of Nigerian palm oil. The effluents of palm oil produced in Nigeria used to fry some food items were subjected to FA profile determination. The results showed that the concentration of C16:0 ranged from 37.46 % to 47.58 % while that of C18:1 in the samples was between 42.43 % and 47.17 % which constituted the major FA in the neat palm oil and WPO samples. The detection of C18:2 and C10:0 in the WPO and not in the neat palm oil is due to the effect of the heat that degraded the longer chain FA molecules. The coefficient of variation at a 95 % confidence level was high between 84.43 % and 121.48 % shows the type of food the palm oil was used to fry significantly affected the FA composition of the WPO. More collaborative studies on the optimization of frying parameters of palm oil.

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