Soybean Oil - Composition

Composition

See also: trans fat

Per 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.

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