ARS | Publication request: Corn oil

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: March 1, 2010
Publication Date: March 1, 2011
Citation: Moreau, R.A. 2011. Corn oil. In: Gunstone, F.D., editor. Vegetable Oils in Food Technology-Composition, Properties and Uses. Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing. 10:273-289.

Technical Abstract: Corn oil is a popular vegetable oil in the US and in many other countries. Because of its pleasant nutty flavor, its good stability, and its popularity for making margarines, corn oil has long been considered a premium vegetable oil. Among all of the vegetable oils, corn oil ranks tenth in terms of annual worldwide production, and it represents about 2 percent of the vegetable oil produced worldwide. The chemical composition of corn oil is distinguished by its high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (an average value of 60-75 percent linoleic acid) and among the commodity vegetable oils corn oil has the highest levels of unsaponifiables (>2 percent), the highest levels of phytosterols (> 1 percent), and high levels of tocopherols, (mainly gamma-tocopherol).