Frying with olive oil better than seed oil for health
Date: Oct-23-2014 All around the world people enjoy fried food. But how many know that cooking
oils differ in their ability to withstand heat and repeated use? Now, a new study finds
that compared to several seed oils, olive oil remains the most stable at high
temperature and thus likely to be better for health.
The results showed that when used as a frying oil, refined olive oil was overall chemically more stable than refined seed oils.
The researchers, led by Sfax University in Tunisia, report what they found when they
compared olive oil with sunflower, corn and soybean oil, in the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
In their paper, lead author Akram Zribi, a graduate student in the Ecole Nationale
d'Ingénieurs de Sfax, and colleagues note how different cooking oils have
different physical, chemical and nutritional properties, which change when heated.
When heated, cooking oils produce new compounds, some of which can be toxic or change
the nutritional value of the oil.
The purpose of the study was to find out which oil remained the most stable at high
temperature with repeated use. Many people use the same batch of cooking oil several
times for deep frying.
The team cooked potatoes in three ways in four different refined oils - olive, corn,
soybean and sunflower. The three cooking methods were: deep fried at 320 degrees F, deep fried
at 374 degrees F and pan fried at 356 degrees F.
The team repeated each method 10 times with the same batch of oil - under conditions
that reflected normal home use, and they used several methods to assess chemical changes
in the oils during frying.
When used for frying, refined olive oil is superior to refined seed oils
The results showed that when used as a frying oil, refined olive oil was overall
chemically more stable than refined seed oils.
The authors note that the olive oil showed the "greatest resistance to oxidative
deterioration, and its trans-fatty acid contents and percentages of total polar
compounds were found to be lower at 160 degrees C [320 degrees F] during deep frying."
They found the highest deterioration occurred in the refined sunflower oil during
pan frying at 356 degrees F.
They conclude that olive oil is superior to seed oil for food frying because it
maintains quality and nutrition better.
Funds for the study came from the Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific
Research, and the Ministry of Agriculture, both in Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently learned of a study that found
following a Mediterranean diet rich in
nuts and olive oil may reverse metabolic syndrome - a cluster of risk factors for
cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Courtesy: Medical News Today
Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical
advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.