Cooking oil, also known as “edible oil”, refers to animal or vegetable fats and oils used in the production of food. The cooking oil is liquid at room temperature. Due of the source of raw materials, processing technology and quality, common cooking oils are mostly vegetable oils, including corn oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, hemp oil, corn oil, olive oil, camellia oil, palm oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, linseed oil ( Flax oil), grape seed oil, walnut oil, peony seed oil, etc.
Edible oil is a must for people’s lives, so what kind of oil is good?
Peanut oil is light yellow, transparent, clear in color, fragrant and delicious. It is a relatively easy to digest edible oil.
The fatty acid composition of peanut oil is relatively good, which is easy for the human body to digest and absorb. According to data, the use of peanut oil can decompose cholesterol into bile acids and excrete them out of the body, thereby reducing the cholesterol content in plasma. In addition, peanut oil also contains sterols, wheat germ phenol, phospholipids, vitamin E, choline and other beneficial substances to the human body. Regular consumption of peanut oil can prevent skin from cracking and aging, protect blood vessel walls, prevent thrombosis, and help prevent arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. The choline in peanut oil can also improve the memory of the human brain and delay the decline of brain function.
Rapeseed oil is generally dark yellow or brown. Rapeseed oil contains 0.4–1.0% arachidic acid, 14–19% oleic acid, 12–24% linoleic acid, 31–55% erucic acid, and 1–10% linolenic acid.
From the perspective of nutritional value, the human body’s digestion and absorption rate of rapeseed oil can be as high as 99%, and it has beneficial biliary function. When the liver is in a pathological state, rapeseed oil can also be metabolized normally by the human body. However, rapeseed oil lacks linoleic acid and other essential fatty acids for the human body, and the composition of fatty acids is not balanced, so the nutritional value is lower than that of general vegetable oils. In addition, rapeseed oil contains a large amount of erucic acid and glucosinolates, which are generally considered unfavorable to the growth and development of the human body. If it can be eaten in combination with excellent edible oil rich in linoleic acid, its nutritional value will be improved.
Sesame oil includes ordinary sesame oil and small grinding sesame oil, both of which are made from sesame seeds.
The fat extracted from sesame, whether it is sesame oil or small sesame oil, its fatty acids generally contain 35.0–49.4% oleic acid, 37.7–48.4% linoleic acid, and 0.4–1.2% arachidic acid. The digestion and absorption rate of sesame oil is 98%. Sesame oil does not contain harmful ingredients, but contains particularly rich vitamin E and relatively rich linoleic acid. Regular consumption of sesame oil can regulate the penetration of capillaries, strengthen the absorption capacity of human tissues for oxygen, improve blood circulation, promote gonadal development, delay aging and maintain youth. Therefore, sesame oil is an excellent edible oil with good edible quality and high nutritional value.
The refined sunflower oil is light yellow or bluish yellow, with a fragrant smell and pure taste.
The composition of fatty acids in sunflower oil is affected by climatic conditions. Sunflower oil produced in cold regions contains about 15% oleic acid and about 70% linoleic acid; sunflower oil produced in warm regions contains about 65% oleic acid and 20% linoleic acid. %about. The human digestibility of sunflower oil is 96.5%. It is rich in linoleic acid, which can significantly reduce cholesterol, prevent hardening of the blood vessels and prevent coronary heart disease. In addition, the content of α-tocopherol, which has the strongest physiological activity in sunflower oil, is higher than that of general vegetable oil. Moreover, the ratio of linoleic acid content to vitamin E content is relatively balanced, which is convenient for human body to absorb and utilize. Therefore, sunflower oil is an excellent edible oil with high nutritional value and beneficial to human health.
Soybean oil has a darker color and a special beany flavor; it has poor thermal stability and produces more foam when heated. Soybean oil contains more linoleic acid, which is easier to oxidize and deteriorate and produce “bean smell”. In terms of food quality, soybean oil is inferior to sesame oil, sunflower oil, and peanut oil.
From the perspective of nutritional value, soybean oil contains palmitic acid 7–10%, stearic acid 2–5%, arachidic acid 1–3%, oleic acid 22–30%, linoleic acid 50–60, and linoleic acid 5- 9%. Soybean oil has a good fatty acid composition. It is rich in linoleic acid, which can significantly reduce the serum cholesterol content and prevent cardiovascular diseases. Soybean oil also contains a large amount of vitamin E, vitamin D and rich lecithin, which are beneficial to the human body. Health is very beneficial. In addition, the human body digestion and absorption rate of soybean oil is as high as 98%, so soybean oil is also an excellent edible oil with high nutritional value.
How is edible oil produced?
Generally, cooking oil seed processing method is divided into two types, including pressing method and leaching method. And they have difference in the production process.
Pressing method
Pressing method refers to pure physical pressing, which is after strict selection of raw oil materials, and then steaming and frying of raw materials at a specific temperature to keep the oil yield highest, and use a screw cooking oil machine to squeeze out the oil. After that, it use special fiber mesh to filter to get refined oil. The oil produced by this method is safe, hygienic, pollution-free, and free of solvent residues, which completely guarantees that the nutritional components of the oil are not destroyed.
The main processes are: oil selection — oil heating — pressing — sedimentation filtration — virgin oil
Leaching method
The leaching process is to break the oil, fully soak it with chemical solvent (№6 hydrogen gasoline) to extract the oil, and then separate the recovered oil by distillation to separate the solvent oil (№6 hydrogen gasoline). The refining and deodorization of oils and fats can remove the unpleasant smell of crude oil, and also remove some toxic substances and unhealthy matters.
The main processes are: oil crushing — chemical leaching — high temperature separation — high temperature refining (degumming, deacidification, decolorization, deodorization, dewaxing) — finished oil
Different oils will have different processing techniques. When the price of the oilseeds and the oilratio are the same, the squeezed oil is better than the refined oil. Pressing oil uses mechanical force to press the oil out, does not require the use of chemical solvents, and is relatively healthier.
