Christopher Unyime Ebong*
Vegetable oils are triglycerides extract from plants and made of up of fatty acid chains. The fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated depending on the number of carbon-carbon double bonds. The degree of saturation/unsaturation is indicated by the iodine value of the oil. Hence this research work was aimed at comparing the iodine values of five different vegetable oil (groundnut oil, palm oil, olive oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil) samples bought from Swali market, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state in Nigeria. The vegetable oils were analyzed for their iodine values and the following results were obtained: For groundnut oil, the iodine values were found to be 86.00 g I2/100 g, olive oil 81.01 g I2/100 g, palm oil 53.91 g I2/100 g, palm kernel oil 36.74 g I2/100 g and coconut oil 10 g I2/100 g. The iodine values of the five vegetable oil samples analyzed follows the order: Groundnut oil > Olive oil > Palm oil > Palm kernel oil > Coconut oil. Since their iodine values are lower than 100, these oils are considered to be a non-drying oil which does not harden when it is exposed to air and therefore can be used industrially for the production of hard soaps and are of good nutritional value, hence the oils pose no significant health risks to consumers. Thus, the result of these findings shows that the iodine values obtained were within the regulatory standard and did not exceed the permissible level.
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