Question

Which of the following oils has the maximum content of Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)?
A) Coconut oil
B) Cottonseed oil
C) Soybean oil
D) Sunflower oil

Answer 1

Biochemically fatty acids are long chains of aliphatic carboxylic acid.They are grouped into two based on the presence or absence of double bonds, Saturated fatty acids (SFA) which means the long aliphatic chain does not consist of double bonds and Unsaturated when there is presence of double bonds between carbon atoms within the chain.Further Unsaturated chain is grouped into Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) if there is single double bond and Polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA) if there is more than one double bond.

Complete answer:
Fats and Oils are the triacylglycerols which acts as the energy producing molecule after its oxidation, Triacylglycerols consist of fatty acids in their side chain. Presence of these fatty acids at their side chain determine the character of an oil or fat. The concentration of determined fatty acids are represented in the table below.

| Saturated fatty acids (SFA).(%)| Monounsaturated fatty acids(MUFA). (%)| Polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA). (%)
---|---|---|---
Coconut oil| 92| 6| 2
Cottonseed oil| 30| 18| 52
Soybean oil| 15| 25| 60
Sunflower oil| 11| 20| 69

By the table above, Sunflower oil contains maximum Polyunsaturated oil.Therefore, Option D is the correct answer.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: Presence of double bond can alter the effects of oils and fats to the consumer. Presence of cis bond can create kink between the triacyglycerols and make them liquid by providing space at room temperature, whereas saturated fatty acids do not create such kinks and can settle down firmly making fats aa solid at room temperature.