Abstract:
Background: Lipids play a vital role in human health in different ways; they serve as an energy
source, a component of cell membranes, hormones and carrier for lipid-soluble bioactives.
Edible oils are the major source of lipids in the human diet. However, their quality is a serious
concern due to adulteration with poor quality oils.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the quality of three edible oils available in Jaffna district
emphasizing on their fatty acid profile.
Methods: Triplicate samples of branded oils; sunflower oil (SO) (n=3), palm oil (palm olein)
(PO) (n=4), and olive oil (OO) (n=2) were collected from markets in the Jaffna district. Fatty
acid methyl esters prepared by BF3-methanol method were analyzed using gas
chromatography. Values were compared with the standard values specified by the Codex
Alimentarius Commission.
Results: All SO samples had the fatty acid composition within the standard ranges with the
total unsaturated fatty acid content and saturated fatty acid content ranging from 92.21 to
92.24% and 7.01 to 7.74%, respectively. The saturated and unsaturated fatty acid contents of
PO samples were 38.96 - 44.81% and 55.09 - 61.5%, respectively. In all the PO samples, the
lauric acid content was higher (0.83-1.61%) than the standard (0.1-0.5%) and in brand 3,
palmitic acid content (35.68%) was less than the standard (38.0-43.5%). The ranges of
saturated and unsaturated fatty contents of OO samples were 10.55-13.1% and 89.61-87.62%,
respectively. The fatty acid composition of brand 1 OO was in line with the standards.
However, brand 2 of the OO had much less oleic acid content (49.45±0.01) than standard (55-
83%) whereas linoleic acid content (38.17±0.00) was higher than the standard (3.5-21%).
Conclusion: PO and OO samples are suspected to be adulterated with other types of oil.
Further studies are needed to confirm the adulteration of suspected samples.
