The Exotic Blends Co: R&D

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	R&D NEWS WHICH FAT OR OIL? The Exotic Blends Co. Research and Development Department. MARCH-2002 Questions/comments: research@theexoticblends.com

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Executive Summary

The attributes of a good frying fat are the opposite of what you would expect.

Normal frying temperatures are in the range of 160-190 °C (320-374 °F). A good frying fat must have a minimum content of mono- and diglycerides which tend to decompose and produce smoke. It must also have minimum concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids which can react with oxygen and the water in raw foods to produce a wide range of undesirable compounds that can alter the flavor of the fried foods and can even produce toxic compounds such as malondialdehyde. Repeated frying with the same fat aggravates the situation.

The most stable fats for frying should have high concentrations of the thermally stable saturated fatty acids, and further, these should be of medium chain length to minimize the sensation of greasiness in the mouth. Chemical hydrogenation of vegetable oils can improve the saturated fatty acid profile of the frying fat, but can aggravate the sensation of greasiness. (And besides, chemical hydrogenation can lead to the formation of the antinutritional trans isomers of fatty acids )

There are only three natural oils that meet the requirements for an ideal frying oil:
coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

The accompanying strong flavor of coconut oil rather limits its use to Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine. Palm kernel oil is not available in Ecuador, so palm oil remains the only logical choice for a 100% natural frying oil for our banana chips.

Article: Which fat or oil?.

We recently had some queries about why we use palm oil to fry our banana chips, specifically "isn't this one of the "bad" oils?" Well, yes and no.
Perhaps no other epidemiological topic incites as much debate amongst scientists and confusion amongst consumers as dietary fats and oils and their effects on health. Remember what happened with olive oil? First it was good for you, then it was bad for you, and now it's good for you again. Such reversals of scientific opinion only serve to confuse and plague everyone with questions as to which are the "good" and "bad" fats and how much can be safely ingested. Now, to further confuse the issue, "good" or "bad" actually depends upon the use of the fat or oil.

To dispel some misconceptions I'm going to have to introduce you to some basic lipid chemistry.

A fatty acid is composed of a chemically reactive, water-loving head (the "acid" part of the molecule) and an inert, water-abhorring tail (the "fatty" part of the molecule). We can classify fatty acids according to the number of carbon atoms and double bonds in the "tail". Thus:

Short chain fatty acids = 2 to 6 carbon atoms
Medium chain fatty acids = 8 to 14 carbon atoms
Long chain fatty acids = 16 or more carbon atoms

Unsaturated fatty acids = no double bonds
Mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) = 1 double bond
Poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) = 2 or more double bonds

Below are stearic, oleic, linoleic acids, some of the more common fatty acids. They all are long chain fatty acids because they have 18 carbon atoms.

Stearic acid is a long chain saturated fatty acid because there are no double bonds in the "tail". It is a solid (=fat) at room temperature. In general, saturated fatty acids with 10 or more carbon atoms are solids at room temperature and their melting points increase with increasing length of the carbon chain in the tail.

Oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid because it has one double bond in its "tail" and linoelic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid because it has two double bonds. Unsaturated fatty acids are liquids (=oils) at room temperature.

Fatty acids are rarely encountered in free form and are normally bound to a molecule of glycerol to form mono-, di- and triglycerides. Here we will use the organic chemist's abbreviation "R¹", "R²" and "R³" to denote three different fatty acids.

The properties of the glycerides are determined by their constituent fatty acids, and thus can also be solids or liquids at room temperature. For example, animal fats have a higher concentration of long-chain saturated fatty acids in their glycerides and so tend to be solids at room temperature. Vegetable oils tend to have higher concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids so tend to be liquids at room temperature.

There is a general consensus that to maintain serum cholesterol levels within an acceptable range, adults should limit their intake of saturated fats to less than 20 g per day for adults on a 2000 calorie diet. Less is even better.

What about olive oil? Oleic acid (a monounsaturated fatty acid) accounts for about 72% of the fatty acid composition of olive oil. Olive oil was found to be effective in maintaining low levels of serum cholesterol when it was the major source of dietary fat, but had little effect in maintaining low cholesterol levels when saturated fats were also included in the diet. Hence the changing opinions about olive oil mentioned earlier. Polyunsaturated fats in the diet, however, can partially negate the "bad" effects of saturated fats in the diet and keep cholesterol levels low.

So, to summarize the data on dietary fats:

saturated fats = bad
monounsaturated fats = good, if these are the main source of dietary fats
polyunsaturated fats = even better, if your diet presents a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats

This means that you should have a nice garden salad with a vinagrette made with corn, sunflower o soya oil to accompany that nicely marbled steak. But be warned, scientific opinion on this may change as well!

Now, what about fried foods?

The attributes of a good frying fat are the opposite of what you would expect.

Don't forget that normal frying temperatures are in the range of 160-190 °C (320-374 °F). A good frying fat must have a minimum content of mono- and diglycerides which tend to decompose and produce smoke. It must also have minimum concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids which can react with oxygen and the water in raw foods to produce a wide range of undesirable compounds that can alter the flavor of the fried foods and can even produce toxic compounds such as malondialdehyde. Repeated frying with the same fat aggravates the situation.

The most stable fats for frying should have high concentrations of the thermally stable saturated fatty acids, and further, these should be of medium chain length to minimize the sensation of greasiness in the mouth. Chemical hydrogenation of vegetable oils can improve the saturated fatty acid profile of the frying fat, but can aggravate the sensation of greasiness. (And besides, chemical hydrogenation can lead to the formation of the antinutritional trans isomers of fatty acids - but that´s a topic for another research note.)

There are only three natural oils that meet the requirements for an ideal frying oil:
coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

Unfortunately, the accompanying strong flavor of coconut oil rather limits its use to Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine. Palm kernel oil is not available in Ecuador, so palm oil remains the only logical choice for a 100% natural frying oil for our banana chips.

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