Groundnut Oils
Which among these 10 brands should you choose?
Which among these 10 brands should you choose?
Groundnut oil is derived from, well, groundnuts and is an important source of energy in our diet, meeting specific nutritional requirements. It works well with a wide variety of foods, which is a good thing because it contains heart-friendly MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acids) – the thing that lowers the level of bad cholesterol in our body without lowering the levels of good cholesterol. Throw in some omega-6 fatty acids and you have quite the ideal cooking oil. Groundnut oil is also low in saturated fats and high in unsaturated fats. Its high smoking point means the oil holds on to its nutritional content at higher temperatures. One gets the picture. The question is: how do the various brands fare against one another on the parameters that matter? Health claims made by brands and communicated via multiple media often leave the consumer confused about the best/better buy— and those who are not confused will pick any that is available in the market. So, are all brands made equal then? In other words, are they all as good as another and do they meet the basic requirements? Do you know that moisture in your groundnut oil must not cross a specified limit? Or that the iodine value is a measure of the unsaturated fats in the oil? How many of us known that the oil must not have any traces of argemone oil or mineral oil? Or that the lower the acid value, the better the quality? The following report will tell us more than a couple of things about how to choose our groundnut oil.
As per our standard procedure, we picked up samples of 10 popular brands of groundnut oil and subjected these to testing on parameters important to judge the quality of the product. The key parameters included moisture and insoluble properties, presence of other oils/fats, rancidity, antioxidants, adulteration with argemone oil and mineral oil, iodine value, acid value and flash point.
Five brands claimed to be filtered oil/extra virgin – it may be noted that the national standard has not specified a ‘filtered oil’ category. Rest were all refined oils.
The tests were conducted at an NABL-accredited laboratory and as per requirements specified in Indian Standard IS: 544:2014 and Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Regulations, 2011.
Going by the test results, all samples conform to quality requirements and can be considered to be safe for human consumption. While there were some variations, these were well within the specified limits. Use of re-heated oils should be avoided.