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An analysis of twenty one assorted brands of vegetable
oils in Lagos Metropolis Nigeria, reveals varying levels of cholesterol
content. Cholesterol was found to be present in most of the oil brands
sampled using three standard methods. Cholesterol was detected in seventeen
of the vegetable oil brands with concentration of less than 1 mg/ml while
seven of the oil brands had cholesterol concentrations ranging between
1-4 mg/ml. Low iodine values were obtained in four of the vegetable oil
brands and three of them had high acid values. High performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) confirmed the presence of cholesterol at varying
concentrations in all the oil brands and gave the lowest detectable cholesterol
values in all the oil brands. The Laser brand made from rapeseed had the
highest cholesterol concentration of 3.2 mg/ml while Grand brand made
from groundnuts had the least concentration (0.12 mg/ml) of cholesterol
using HPLC analysis. Leibermann-Burchard method showed that Gino brand
from palm kernel had the least concentration of cholesterol (3.86 mg/ml
±0.032) and the highest concentration of 3.996 mg/ml ±0.0404
was obtained in Sesame seed oil brand. This report is important in view
of health implications of cholesterol in our diets. Consequently, we have
been able to show that there is no cholesterol free oil in the market
as shown on the vegetable oil brand labels. Therefore, companies producing
and marketing vegetable oils are enjoined to desist from misleading the
public by labeling their products as “cholesterol free”. They
should indicate the amount of cholesterol present in the vegetable oil,
no matter how small the quantity may be.
