Composition
See also: trans fatPer 100g, soybean oil has 16g of saturated fat, 23g of mono-unsaturated fat, and 58g of poly-unsaturated fat. The major unsaturated fatty acids in soybean oil triglycerides are the poly-unsaturates, alpha-linolenic acid (C-18:3), 7-10%, and linoleic acid (C-18:2), 51%; and the mono-unsaturate, oleic acid (C-18:1), 23%. It also contains the saturated fatty acids, stearic acid, (C-18:0), 4%, and palmitic acid, (c-16:0), 10%.
The high-proportion of oxidation-prone linolenic acid is undesirable for some uses, such as cooking oils. Three companies, Monsanto Company, DuPont/Bunge, and Asoyia in 2004 introduced low linolenic Roundup Ready soybeans. In the past, hydrogenation was used to reduce the unsaturation in linolenic acid, but this produced the unnatural trans-fatty acid configuration, whereas in nature the configuration is cis.
Read more about this topic: Soybean Oil
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“The composition of a tragedy requires testicles.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)
“Modern Western thought will pass into history and be incorporated in it, will have its influence and its place, just as our body will pass into the composition of grass, of sheep, of cutlets, and of men. We do not like that kind of immortality, but what is to be done about it?”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)