Vegetable Oils Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Vegetable Oils Deck (33)
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1
Q

Plant lipids

A
  • Fats and oils (liquid at room temp)

- Fatty acids FA on glycerol backbone

2
Q

Glycerol

A

3 carbon alcohol

3
Q

Fatty acid

A

Long hydrocarbon chain with carboxylic acid at end

4
Q

Triglyceride

A
  • 3 FA chains on glycerol

- How humans store fat

5
Q

How many Fatty Acids are known in plants?

A

Over 300

6
Q

The most common Fatty Acids have how many carbons>

A
  • 16-18
7
Q

What is the function of Fatty Acids in plants?

A
  • Found in leaves, fruits, seeds
  • Part of composition of cell membranes
  • 6 FA’s account for 95% found in membranes
8
Q

Where does most commercial cooking oil come from? Why is it concentrated there?

A
  • Seeds
  • Oil bodies found in seeds
  • Likely due to providing energy for germinating plant
9
Q

What are 2 ways seeds provide energy to germinating plants?

A
  • Starch

- Oil and fatty acids

10
Q

Saturation of FA’s

A
  • Number of single carbon to carbon bonds

- Saturated with hydrogen

11
Q

Unsaturated fats

A
  • Double carbon bond
  • Causes less hydrogens in FA
  • Can be mono, or polyunsaturated
12
Q

Chemical effect of saturation (unsaturation)

A
  • Saturated FA has higher melting point

- Shortening, fat, coconut and palm ‘oil’, cocoa butter

13
Q

Chemical effect of unsaturated FA

A
  • Unsaturated FA molecule has bend at carbon double bond

- Lower melting point = fluid at lower temperature (i.e. oil)

14
Q

Why is there different saturations in plants?

A
  • Plants don’t maintain overall metabolic temperature
  • Fluidity is important in membrane functions (cellular events)
  • Plants vary in cold tolerance
  • Plants have more unsaturated FA than animals
  • Having membrane lipid fluids in a range of temperatures can meet different environmental conditions
15
Q

What kind of fats are linked to heart disease?

A
  • Saturated
16
Q

What type of oil lowers blood cholesterol, in general?

A
  • Polyunsaturated oils
17
Q

What oil raises good HDL and lowers LDL?

A
  • Mono-unsaturated oils
18
Q

What are the essential FA’s widely present in diet?

A
  • Linolenic, arachidonic, linoleic
19
Q

What does the type of oil (sat vs. unsat) affect in the diet

A
  • Affects ratio of high and low density lipoprotein in blood
20
Q

Hydrogenation

A
  • Artificial saturation of fatty acids
  • Moved CIS Hydrogen configuration to Trans so bends less
  • Convert liquid to solid
  • Partial hydrogenation to achieve desired texture
21
Q

Trans vs Cis configuration in fatty acids

A
  • Trans FA linked to increased heart disease
22
Q

Where do many cooking oils come from?

A
  • plant seeds

- Corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, soybean

23
Q

Canola

A
  • Brassica rapa, Brassicaceae, mustard family

- Selective breeding from rape seed for low content of bitter tasting FA erucic acid

24
Q

Olive, how many varieties, and oldest tree

A
  • Olea europa, Oleaceae, olive family
  • 700 plus varieties
  • 1600 year old tree dated in Croatia
  • Most widely planted fruit tree
  • Not frost tolerant
25
Q

Olive Oil

A
  • Pressed from olive flesh
  • Harvest time critical for quality, degree of ripeness
  • Quality controlled
26
Q

How is the quality of olive oil tested? Extra Virgin designation?

A
  • Acidity test
  • Extra Virgin designation has < 0.7% free acids
  • Absence of 16 official taste flaws determined by taste panel
27
Q

How is so much Italian extra-virgin olive oil provided?

A
  • Adulterating and ‘upgrading’ product
28
Q

What are ways to adulter/upgrade Italian extra virgin olive oil?

A
  • Mix in hazelnut oil and low quality olive oil
  • Manipulate cheaper vegetable oils with colour and flavour additives
  • Olive oil from other countries like Tunisia that are processed in Italy to be labelled Italian
  • Other oils processed in Italian refineries and labelled as olive oil
29
Q

What is an alternative to potentially less than ideal Italian olive oil?

A
  • Spanish olive oil?
30
Q

Palm and palm kernel oil, plant

A
  • African oil palm, Elaies genesis, Palmaceae, a monocot, principle oil producer
  • American oil palm, Eaies oleifera
  • Oil from fleshy fruit part of fruit or seed kernel
31
Q

What are specifics and uses of palm oils?

A
  • Tolerate high temperature for frying
  • Texture good for processed foods
  • Used as carrier for cosmetic products
  • Possible bio-fuel
32
Q

Where is palm oil extensively cultivated?

A
  • Indonesia and Malaysia
33
Q

What did UNEP declare as the leading cause of rain forest destruction?

A
  • Cultivation of palm oil

- Threatens habitats of endangered animals like Sumatran orang-utan (6300 left)