Comparison of physicochemical properties of edible vegetable oils commercially available in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Tilahun Mengistie, Agegnehu Alemu and Alemayehu Mekonnen

Abstract

The physicochemical properties of six imported and one locally produced edible vegetable oils (soybean oil, sunflower oil, sunlit oil, hayat oil, avena oil, USA vegetable oil and Niger oil) purchased from Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia, were examined for their compositional quality. All the oil samples were characterized for specific gravity, moisture content, color, relative viscosity, refractive indices, ash content, peroxide value, saponification value, smoke point, acid value, free fatty acid value and trace metals contents using established methods. The result clearly indicates that some of the oil samples exhibited unacceptable value when compared with physicochemical parameters recommended by the Codex Alimentations Commission of FAO/WHO and the specification of Ethiopian standards. The contents of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) in seven samples were determined using ICP-OES and their concentrations were found in the range of 1.8-20.4, 45.8-82.2 and 136.04-445.0 mg/kg, respectively.