Title Saturated Fat Levels in various cooking oils.

Aim To determine the healthiest oil based on saturated fat levels.

Introduction Cholesterol can't dissolve in the blood. It must be transported through

your bloodstream by carriers called lipoproteins, which got their name
because theyre made of fat (lipid) and proteins. The two types of
cholesterol in our body are known as Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL)
and High Density Lipoproteins (HDL).

LDL cholesterol is considered the bad cholesterol because it

contributes to plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog arteries and
make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If
a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can
result. Another condition called peripheral artery disease can develop
when plaque buildup narrows an artery supplying blood to the legs.

HDL cholesterol is considered good cholesterol because it helps

remove LDL cholesterol from the arteries. Experts believe HDL acts
as a scavenger, carrying LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and
back to the liver, where it is broken down and passed from the body.
One-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by HDL. A
healthy level of HDL cholesterol may also protect against heart attack
and stroke, while low levels of HDL cholesterol have been shown to
increase the risk of heart disease.

A saturated fat is a fat made of saturated fatty acids and has single
bonds. The fatty acids in saturated fats do not have any double bonds
between the carbon atoms.

Unsaturated fats are made of unsaturated fatty acids which at least

has one double bond between the carbon atoms. This means the
carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain are not bonded to the
maximum number of hydrogen atoms.

Saturated fats increase the levels of Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) -

which is bad cholesterol - in the blood.
Unsaturated fats increase the ratio or High Density Lipoproteins
(HDL) to LDL and lowers the level of total cholesterol.

Saturated fats are one of the main causes of high blood cholesterol
levels. The Heart Foundation has found that increasing amounts of
saturated fats in your diet will cause a rise in the level of bad
cholesterol in your blood and decrease the level of good cholesterol.
This can cause sticky, fatty deposits to build up in your arteries,
causing them to narrow and this increases the risk of blockages. If
 this happens around the heart, it can cause a heart attack. If
blockages occur in the brain it can cause a stroke.

Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and
other types of cooking. There are a wide variety of cooking oils from
plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil
(rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils.

Corn oil (maize oil) is oil extracted from the germ of corn (maize). Its
main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn
oil a valuable frying oil.
Canola is a cultivar of rapeseed.
Soybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the
soybean.
Olive oil is a fat obtained from the olive, a traditional tree crop of the
Mediterranean Basin.
Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil, is a mild-tasting vegetable oil
derived from peanuts.

Using cooking oil with a lower level of saturated fat can provide for
better health.
This project is to be conducted to measure the levels of saturated fat
in different types of cooking oil as cooking oil acts as a base and
agent for the preparation of various foods. The tests were done using
peanut oil, canola oil, corn oil, soya bean oil and olive oil. Using
vegetable oil and non-vegetable oil helps differentiate between oil
containing saturated fats and oil that contains unsaturated fats.

Materials 10 ml of peanut oil, 10 ml of canola oil, 10 ml of corn oil, 10 ml of soya

bean oil, 10 ml of olive oil, 0.05 M iodine

Apparatus 5 boiling tubes, test tube stand, eyedropper, stopwatch, a 25ml

measuring cylinder

Hypothesis Iodine reacts with unsaturated oil to lose its color. A lower proportion
of unsaturated oil content will require a longer reaction time for the
iodine in the oil to lose its color.
Iodine will require a longer time to lose its color in low unsaturated oil
content.

Procedure 1. Clean the 5 boiling tubes and arrange them on the rack. Label
them according to the oils used for testing - peanut oil, canola
oil, corn oil, soya bean oil and olive oil.

2. Measure 10 ml of each type of oil with the measuring cylinder,

and pour into the respective boiling tubes.

3. Drip 3 drops of iodine into the first boiling tube which contains
peanut oil. Start the stopwatch immediately and record the
time taken for the purple color of the iodine to disappear.
 4. Repeat Step 3 on the remaining 4 types of oil, and record the
results in a table.

Prepared By Tasneem Khokhar

Amirah Yusri
Yap Xin Yit