Assessment of quality of commercially available some selected edible oils accessed in Ethiopia

Abstract Objective In the present study, an effort has been performed to determine trans fatty acid, free fatty acid, and cholesterol content of some selected edible oils in Ethiopia. Five brands of locally made different edible oil samples were purchased from super markets of Ethiopia. The quality of these edible oils was analyzed by evaluating their chemical properties such as acid, saponification and peroxide values using standard methods (titrimetric technique). Results The results of the study revealed that maximum and minimum acid value was 5.59 ± 0.02 mg/g for Beksa (Niger oil) and 0.11 ± 0.02 mg/g for Tena (sunflower) oil respectively. Similarly, the saponification value showed (223.2 ± 0.39 mg/kg) for Tena and (173.4 ± 0.46 mg/kg) for Beksa. The maximum peroxide value was observed in Lulu (vegetable oil; 11.67 ± 0.11 meq O2/kg) and minimum value found in Sunny (sunflower oil; 2.84 ± 0.05 meq O2/kg). The highest total free fatty acid as oleic acid was observed in Beksa (2.95 ± 0.03%) and lowest total free fatty acid in Tena oil (0.06 ± 0.03%). On the other hands, two trans fatty acids; oleic acid (C 18:1) and linoleic acid (C 18:2) were detected in the 5 edible oils by using GC method.