Lipids

Lipids are composed of fatty acids. They can be of several variations depending on how the bonds are
and the overall structure. There are saturated, unsaturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated
fats. An oil that contains polyunsaturated fatty acids is safflower oil. Safflowers come from the Middle
East and are from the Compositae family, also, they are known as the world’s oldest crop from this
family. Types of these polyunsaturated fats found in safflower oil include linoleic and linolenic, which are
two vital fatty acids for overall human health (Ahmadzadeh et al., p. 527, 2014).

Safflower oil has a similar oil content to that of olive, sunflower, and peanut oils. The difference is that
safflower oil is composed of 75% linoleic acid. A comparison was done to see the percent of fatty acids,
specifically linoleic acid, found in safflower seeds at either a mature state or at full ripeness. What was
found was that the mature seeds contained less than 0.3% linoleic acid while the fully ripened seeds
contained 82.5% (Hamrouni et al., p.p. 297-300, 2004). From this study what can be taken away is that a
consumer wanting an oil with the benefits of linoleic acid should look for a safflower oil made from
seeds at full ripeness.

Lipids such as triacylglycerols and phospholipids can be altered via chemical synthesis or reaction with a
catalyzing enzyme. The end result of these reactions is a newly structured fatty acid, the reasoning for
doing this is so the human body can accept more fatty acids. A potential for this treatment are
polyunsaturated fatty acids because they contain the highest amount of linoleic acid. By undergoing the
enzyme treatment, it can be determined how many fatty acids undergo oxidative deterioration by
enzymes (Senanayake et al., p.p. 217-229, 2007). The reasoning of wanting to understand this, is to see
when consumed, how many fatty acids are the enzymes in a human body breaking down and then can
be taken in.

The last study researched, was of rats being fed fat laden diets, either of cocoa butter or safflower oil.
The comparison was done to compare two food systems high in fats; the cocoa butter high in saturated
fatty acids while the safflower oil high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. What was found was the rats fed
the safflower oil diet had increased levels of hepatic cholesterol and decreased levels of plasma of
triglyceride and cholesterol (Gustavsson et al., p.p. 1011-1027, 2009). The findings of this study help to
better understand when undergoing a diet high in fats, which fats may be the more preferable choice
and how the type of fats affect the consumer in the long run.

There are many different types of fatty acids and they can be found in several forms which can be found
in an array of foods. The takeaway from this is when cooking, to know what type of fat the cook is using
and what fatty acids are coming with the fat and how those fatty acids will impact the consumer.
 References

Ahmadzadeh, S., Kadivar, M., & Saeidi, G. (2014). Investigation of Oil Properties and Seed Composition in
Some Safflower Lines and Cultivars. Journal Of Food Biochemistry, 38(5), 527-532.
doi:10.1111/jfbc.12091.

Gustavsson, C., Parini, P., Ostojic, J., Cheung, L., Hu, J., Zadjali, F., . . . Tollet-Egnell, P. (2009). Cocoa
butter and safflower oil elicit different effects on hepatic gene expression and lipid metabolism
in rats. Lipids, 44(11), 1011-27. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/274715388?accountid=40999.

Hamrouni, I., Touati, S., Dhifi, W., Chahed, T., Ayachi, S., Ben Salah, H., & Marzouk, B. (2004).
GLYCEROLIPID EVOLUTION DURING SAFFLOWER SEED FORMATION AND RIPENING. Journal Of
Food Lipids, 11(4), 297-311. doi:10.1111/j.1745-4522.2004.11410.x.

Mascioli, E. A., Mclennan, C. E., Schaefer, E. J., Lichtenstein, A. H., Høy, C., Christensen, M. S., & Bistrian,
B. R. (1999). Lipidemic effects of an interesterified mixture of butter, medium-chain
triacylglycerol and safflower oils. Lipids, 34(9), 889-894. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11745-999-
0437-x.

Prabhakara Rao, P., Narsing Rao, G., Jyothirmayi, T., Satyanarayana, A., Karuna, M. S., Lakshmi, . . .
Narayana. (2015). Characterisation of seed lipids from bixa orellana and trachyspermum
copticum. JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, 92(10), 1483-1490.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11746-015-2717-1.

Senanayake, S. N., & Shahidi, F. (2007). MEASURING OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF STRUCTURED LIPIDS BY
PROTON NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE. Journal Of Food Lipids, 14(3), 217-231.
doi:10.1111/j.1745-4522.2007.00081.x.