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Fatty Acids Composition of Four Different Vegetable Oils (Red Palm

Olein, Palm Olein, Corn Oil and Coconut Oil) by Gas

Chromatography

1Eqbal M. A. Dauqan, 1Halimah Abdullah Sani, Aminah 2Abdullah and 2Zalifah Mohd Kasim

1School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan

Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia

2School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract. The objective of the study was to evaluate the fatty acids composition of four different vegetableoils [red palm olein (RPO), palm olein (PO), corn oil (CO) and coconut oil (COC)] by Gas chromatography.Four different vegetable oils were analyzed for fatty acid concentration by gas chromatography. The results

showed that the predominant component of RPO and PO was oleic acid (18:0) (44.616% and 49.482%) andpalmitic acid (16:0) (42. 465% and 36.768%) respectively whilst the CO was rich in linoleic acid (18:0)47.189% but COC was rich in lauric acid (12:0) 46.458% compared to the other oil samples. The fatty acidcomposition of red palm olein and palm olein contains a healthy mixture of all the types of fatty acidssaturated and unsaturated fatty acids

Keywords: Palm Olein, palm olein, Corn oil, Coconut oil, Fatty acids

1. IntroductionBiological mixtures such as fatty acids can be separated and quantified by using gas capillary

chromatography, where the capillary system involves in splitting the sample to prevent sample overloading

on the GC. A make up gas like nitrogen is usually mixed with the column effluent prior to the flame

ionization detector (FID) to improve response characteristics (Mohammad andPeter 2007). Vegetable oils in

particular are natural products of plant origin consisting of ester mixtures derived from glycerol with chains

of fatty acid contain about 14 to 20 carbon atoms with different degrees of unsaturation (Emmanuel and

Mudiakeoghene, 2008). Vegetable oils play important functional and sensory roles in food products, and

they act as carriers of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). They also provide energy and essential linoleic

and linolenic acids, responsible for growth (Fasina et al. 2006). One important parameter of different

vegetable oils is the amount of unsaturation of the constituent fatty acids (Nikolaos and Theophanis 2000).

Most native oils and fats have limited applications in their unmodified forms, imposed by their

triacylglycerol (TAG) and fatty acid (FA) compositions. It is widely known that the physical and chemical

properties of oils are a strong function of the TAG and FA composition. By changing the natural physical

and chemical characteristics of a fat or oil, it offers greater functionality for a large number of product

formulations (Abdulkarim et al. 2010). Physical-chemical properties of triglyceride and its applications

depend upon fatty acid constituents in molecule. However, the differences are due primarily to chain length

degree and position of unsaturation. The short chain fatty acids are of lower melting point and are more

soluble in water. Whereas, the longer chain fatty acids have higher melting points. Unsaturated acids will

have a lower melting point compared to saturated fatty acids of similar chain length (Chayanoot et al. 2005).

+ Corresponding author: Eqbal M. A. Dauqan Tel.: (0060172728034).

E-mail address: edouqan@yahoo.com

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Therefore the the main objective of this work was to determine of fatty acids concentration in four different

vegetable oils (RPO, PO, CO and COC).

2. Material and methods2.1 Instrument

Gas chromatography (C:/GCsolution/Data/Oleokimia/FAM.gcm) was equipped with flamionization detector and capillary column (30 m x0.25 mm film).

2.2. Preparation of fatty acid methyl easterPreparation of fatty acid methyl easter (FAME) was carried out according to Jumat et al. (2006) and

Siew et al. (1995). 1 mL of hexan was put into 0.1 mL vegetable oil and 1mL sodium methoide (1.55g of

MaOH in 50 mL of methanol) solution was added in the oil solution. The solution stirred vigorously using

vortex stirrer for 10 seconds. The solution was left 10 minutes to separate out the clear solution of fatty acid

methyl ester from the cloudy aqueous layer. The upper layer was collected carefully. The fatty acid

composition of four different vegetable oils was determined using its fatty acid methyl esters and was

injected into gas-chromatography for analysis. The identification of the peaks was carried out by retention

times.

3. Results and DiscussionThe fatty acid composition of four different vegetable oils was determined by capillary GC. as reported

in Table 1.

Table 1 Fatty composition of four different vegetable oils

Name of fatty acid ShorthandArea % in

RPO

Area % in

PO

Area % in

CO

Area % in

COC

Caprylic 8:0 0.034 0.061 0.167 6.601

Capric 10:0 - - - 5.071

Lauric 12:0 0.173 0.230 0.042 46.458

Myristic 14:0 0.961 0.849 - 20.572

Palmitic 16:0 42.465 36.768 12.427 9.161

Stearic 18:00 0.395 - 11.442 2.936

Oleic 18.1 44.616 49.482 36.994 7.211

Linoleic 18:2 10.372 11.745 47.189 1.648

Linolenic 18:3 0.257 0.539 1.312 -

Arachidic 20:0 0.356 0.161 0.298 -

Heneicosanoic 21:0 - - - -

Beheric 22:0 0.059 0.061 0.151 -

Tricosanoic 23:0 0.022 0.031 - -

Lignoceric 24:0 0.067 0.066 - -

The most prominent of fatty acids in RPO and PO were palmitic acid (16:0) (42.465% and 36.768%) and

oleic acid (18:0) (44.616% and 49.482%) respectively while the corn oil was rich in oleic acid (18:0) and

linoleic acid (18:2) (36.994% and 47.189%). Nasma et al. (2010) and Abdulkarim et al. (2010) observed

similar results when they studied the fatty acid composition in red palm olein and palm olein respectively. Inthis study the results composition in corn oil were in agreement with some published data (Juyoung et al.

2010; Kiefer et al. 1997). The high content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) especially oleic acid

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(18:1) is associated with a low incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD)because it decreases total

cholesterol (10%) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Dennys et al. 2006). Unsaturated (especially

polyunsaturated) fatty acids are also more prone to oxidation. In contrast, dietary intake of certain

unsaturated fatty acids, in particular conjugated linoleic and fat-soluble antioxidants (e.g., -tocopherol,

carotenoids) has been linked to potential health benefits (Gillian et al. 2008).

The presence of lauric acid (12:0) (46.458%) was found in coconut oil. This resutl is in line with

Gregorio (2005) andGopala et al. (2010), they reported that cocnut oil is amijor source of lauric acid. High

dietary intakes of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) is a risk factor for development of obesity, cardiovascular

disease (Gillian et al. 2008). Oils are important nutrients and energy sources that are composed mostly of

triacylglycerols. Dietary triacylglycerols are composed of fatty acids that may vary in their chain length,

degree of unsaturation, isomeric orientation of double bonds and position within the triacylglycerol molecule

(Edwm et al. 2003). Palm oil contains a high proportion of palmitic acid as well as considerable quantities of

oleic and linoleic acids which give it a higher unsaturated fatty acid content than coconut oil and Red palm

oil (RPO) contains 50% saturated, 40% monounsaturated and 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids (Edem 2002).

4. ConclusionThe fatty acid composition of red palm olein and palm olein contains a healthy mixture of all the types of

fatty acids saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid profile plays a key role to the

physicalchemical properties therefore this is useful knowledge base for further advanced research.

5. AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) and the

research was funded by UKM-GUP-NBT-27-103 and UKM-HEJIM-Industri-16-2010. We grateful thank to

carotene sdn bhd Malaysia for providing red palm olein sample.

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