Vegetable Fats - Particular Oils

Particular Oils

For a more comprehensive list, see List of vegetable oils.

The following triglyceride vegetable oils account for almost all worldwide production, by volume. All are used as both cooking oils and as SVO or to make biodiesel. According to the USDA, the total world consumption of major vegetable oils in 2007/08 was:

Oil source	World consumption (million metric tons)	Notes
Palm	41.31	The most widely produced tropical oil, also used to make biofuel
Soybean	41.28	Accounts for about half of worldwide edible oil production
Rapeseed	18.24	One of the most widely used cooking oils, canola is a variety (cultivar) of rapeseed
Sunflower seed	9.91	A common cooking oil, also used to make biodiesel
Peanut	4.82	Mild-flavored cooking oil
Cottonseed	4.99	A major food oil, often used in industrial food processing
Palm kernel	4.85	From the seed of the African palm tree
Coconut	3.48	Used in soaps and cooking
Olive	2.84	Used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps

Note that these figures include industrial and animal feed use. The majority of European rapeseed oil production is used to produce biodiesel, or used directly as fuel in diesel cars which may require modification to heat the oil to reduce its higher viscosity. The suitability of the fuel should come as little surprise, as Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on peanut oil.

Other significant triglyceride oils include:

• Corn oil, one of the most common cooking oils. As of 2006 the US produced about 1.09 million metric tons of corn oil, which is used for cooking oil, salad dressing, margarine, mayonnaise, prepared goods like spaghetti sauce and baking mixes, and to fry prepared foods like potato chips and French fries.

• Grape seed oil, used in cooking and cosmetics
• Hazelnut and other nut oils
• Linseed oil, from flax seeds
• Rice bran oil, from rice grains
• Safflower oil, a flavorless and colorless cooking oil
• Sesame oil, used as a cooking oil, and as a massage oil, particularly in India