Fats and oils:
Fat is present naturally in many foods. This part is often referred to as invisible fat. They can be of animal or plant origin, examples of food containing appreciable quantities of invisible fat include meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, nuts and oilseeds. Visible fats are made from these products. They are lard, cooking oils, salad oils, margarine and butter.
Fat plays a variety of roles both in preparation and nutrition. Fats that have a relatively high melting points and are solid at room temperature are called as fats, whereas those that have lower melting points and are liquid at room temperature called oils. Fat is a concentrated source of energy stored by body as a preserved food.
Fats and oils:
Sources of fat :
- Lard : It is an animal fat. Fatty tissue of pork or hog are copped into small pieces and heated and rendered to remove fat. It is popular in Western countries at a low cost of flavour substitute for butter in frying and baking. The quality of lard depends on the location of the fatty tissues in the animal and on the method of heating and anti-oxidants is added to delay the onset of rancidity. It is then bleached, hydrogenated, de – orderised and an emulsifier is added.
- Butter: It is primarily a milk fat. It is made from sweet or sour cream. The cream is pasteurised at 62.8 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. A culture of bacteria called a starter is added to cream to produce lactic acid bacteria and altered the flavour of the culture cream is allowed to ripen a few hours and this is then churned. Agitation causes the rupture of film that surrounds the fat globules, separation of fat globules takes place with the breaking of oil and water emulsion.
- Margarine: It is made from vegetable oil used as a substitute of butter, soya bean oil and cotton seed oil or refined in partially hydrogenated to the desired consistency and extensively used to produce margarine. Other ingredients added are vitamin A and vitamin – D for nutritive purpose, diacetyl as flavour constituent, artificial colours, salts, citric acid and sodium benzoate as a preservative.
- Cotton seed oil: Consumed as a salad or a cooking oil while some is used as shortening.
- Groundnut oil: In India about 50% of total edible oil produced as groundnut oil. It is clear, coloured liquid used in cooking and as salad oils.
- Coconut oil: Made from dried coconut meal or khopra. It has high proportions of saturated fats used in making soaps, vanaspati, margarine, pharmaceutical preparation etc.
- Soya bean oil: It is the world’s leading vegetable oil in terms of both production and consumption. It is obtained from raw bean by solvent extraction method. It has both Omega three and Omega 6 fatty acids and also vitamin – E. It is used in vanaspati, cooking oil, Mayonnaise, baby food etc.
- Mustard oil: Mustard seed oil is called as “Sarson”. It has a sharp taste and odour used in cooking and making Pickles.
- Olive oil: It mainly contains MUFA i.e, oleic acid and also contain PUFA and saturated fats and anti-oxidants such as vitamin – E and vitamin – A and phenols. These important components in olive oil have beneficial effects on the overall health in combating coronary heart disease and cancer.
- Palm oil: Palm oil is produced from palm used worldwide as a cooking oil in margarine and shortening and as an ingredient in fat blends. It contains equal proportions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin – E.