Assessment of profile of fatty acids and trans fats in hydrogenated oils in Iran

Background & Objective: Different fat types have different health effects and Increasing   evidences indicate the greater importance of types of fat than total amounts of consumed fat with respect to risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). While intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are negatively related to CAD, high consumption of either saturated  or trans fatty acids has detrimental effects on plasma lipoproteines and  positive relationship between their intake and risk^{of (CAD) has frequently been reported.This study was aimed to assess  the fatty acids profile  and trans fats in  hydrogenated oils  currently  available in Iran.}

Material & Methods: Different commertial brands of hydrogenated oils were collected. The total lipid of each sample was extracted, derivitized with 2-nitrophenylhydrazide and subjected to fatty acids analysis by hplc.

Results: The results showed that all samples contain high amounts of trans fatty acids. On average, percentage of  trans fatty acids and  total trans and saturated fats were 34.6% and 59.1 % respectively. In some oils the total trans and saturated fatty acids was more than 70%.

Discussion: This study proposed that there are high levels of cholesterol rising fatty acids in available hydrogenated oils  in Iran. Because hydrogenated fats can be eliminated from the food supply by changes in processing that do not require major efforts in education and behavioral modification, these changes would be an extremely efficient and rapid method for substantially reducing rates of coronary disease.