Nutritional quality of sunflower oil

Sunflower is relatively low in the saturated fatty acids, palmitic and stearic but it is rich in the unsaturated fatty acids, oleic and linoleic. With its high amount of polyunsaturated fat, sunflower oil may be good choice to help lower high cholesterol levels.

Its polyunsaturated fatty acid composition is superior to all oils except safflower oil; hence, it offers a popular approach to the prevention and/or cure of cardiovascular diseases.

It is an excellent source of vitamin E, which may enhance the body’s immune response to certain disease.

Like other oils, it has no cholesterol and no sodium. Sunflower oil is used as cooking and salad oil and in the manufacture of margarine sometimes as a pure sunflower products, but more often it belongs with other vegetable oils.
Nutritional quality of sunflower oil

Defintion of fatty acids

Fatty Acids
The fatty acids, the simplest of the lipids, are defined as monocarboxylic acids that tend to be more soluble in organic solvents than in water.

The molecule consists of a polar carboxyl group that is soluble in water and non polar hydrocarbon chain that is insoluble in water but soluble in the common organic solvents.

The solubility of fatty acids in water therefore is fairly high for those of low chain length but decreases markedly as chain length increases.

Some naturally occurring saturated fatty acids:
Butyric
Caproic
Caprylic
Capric
Lauric
Myristic
Palmitic
Stearic
Arachidic
Behedic
Lignoceric

Same naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids:
Monoenoic: Palmitoleic, Oleic
Dienoic: Linoleic
Trienoic: Linolenic
Tetraenoic: Arachidonic

Palmitic acid and stearic acid are by far the most commonly occurring and widely distributed of the saturated fatty acids whereas oleic acid and linolenic acid are the most prevalent of the unsaturated.

These four fatty acids account for over 90% of the fatty acids in the average American diet. Fatty acids of shorter chain length are for the most part minor constituents of plants and animal fats.

However, butyric acid and myristic acid occur in milk fat in large amounts and about 60% of the fatty acid in coconut oil consists of lauric acid and fatty acids of shorter chain length.
Defintion of fatty acids

Unsaturated fatty acid

Fatty acids differ from one another in two ways; in chain length and in degree of saturation. A chain that posses a point of unsaturation is an unsaturated fatty acid. If there is one point of unsaturation, is a monounsaturated fatty acid.

Monounsaturated fatty acids are mainly incorporated into triacylglycerides but are also found in membrane phospholipids, glycolipids and cholesterol esters.

If there are two or more points of unsaturation, it is polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Food fats with more unsaturated fatty acids typically have lower melting points and are more likely to be liquid at room temperature.

The degree of saturation of the fatty acids in a fat affects the temperature at which the fat melts.

Identical unsaturated fatty acids can have different shapes, the carbon chain of a cis fatty acid is bent, and the chain of a trans fatty acid is straighter. Most naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acid are cis fatty acid.

Because cardiovascular disease is correlated with diets high in saturated fats, a diet of more unsaturated fats may reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Canola oil is an attractive dietary choice because it has a high ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids.

Most vegetable and fish oils are rich in polyunsaturated: some vegetable oils, olive oil and canola oil in particular, are also rich in monounsaturated.
Unsaturated fatty acid