Sunflower Oil Triacylglycerol Analysis

Sunflower oil was used as a source of triacylglycerol analysis. The experiment focuses on the determination of Iodine and Saponification number. Saponification values of oils were determined using the chemical method called saponification method. A standard solution 0.1N potassium dichromate was prepared by weighing about 1-2g of anular crystals accurately in a chemical balance. Iodine number is the number of grams of iodine or iodine compound absorbed by 100gm of oil. It is found that saponification and iodine value of sunflower oil are 144 and 133 respectively. Even though there are different kinds of vegetables, this study is limited to sunflower oil.

Keywords: Sunflower Oil, Iodine Value and Saponification Value.

SUNFLOWER OIL

Sunflower

Analytical indices related to fats and oils can be distinguished as structure or quality indices. Structure indices are the iodine value (IV), a measure of total unsaturation of an oil or fat; the saponification value (SV), an indicator of average M.W.; and the hydroxyl value (HV), which is applicable to fatty compounds (or their mixtures) containing (Knothe, 2002).

Saponification is the hydrolysis of fats or oils under basic conditions to afford glycerol and the salt of the corresponding fatty acid (Chalmers and Bathe, 1978). The saponification number is the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to neutralize the fatty acids resulting from the complete hydrolysis of 1g of fat. It gives information concerning the character of the fatty acids of the fat- the longer the carbon chain, the less acid is liberated per gram of fat hydrolysed (Hiemenz and Lodge,

It also gives an idea about the amount of alkali which would be actually required by oil for its conversion into soap. Thus saponification serves for its identification.

Table 1: Saponification Value of Sunflower Oil

OIL SAPONIFICATION VALUE

Sunflower oil 144

Iodine Value

Iodine number is the number of grams of iodine or iodine compound absorbed by 100gm of oil. The double bond present in the unsaturated fatty acid reacts readily with iodine or certain iodine compounds to form an addition compound even while the fatty acid is combined with glycerol in the fat. The iodine number is used to measure of the extent of unsaturation of fatty acid present in oil. There will be variation in each vegetable oil with climate, soil and variety and in each animal fat with nutrition and breed. These variations are small compared to the variation between fats.

Table 2: Iodine Value of Sunflower Oil

OIL IODINE VALUE

Sunflower oil 133

The determination of iodine value is of great importance in

• Finding the proportion of adulteration in