List of vegetable oils

Vegetable oils are triglycerides extracted from plants. Some of these oils have been part of human culture for millennia. Edible vegetable oils are used in food, both in cooking and as supplements. Many oils, edible and otherwise, are burned as fuel, such as in oil lamps and as a substitute for petroleum-based fuels. Some of the many other uses include wood finishing, oil painting, and skin care.

Definition

The term "vegetable oil" can be narrowly defined as referring only to substances that are liquid at room temperature, or broadly defined without regard to a substance's state (liquid or solid) at a given temperature. While a large majority of the entries in this list fit the narrower of these definitions, some do not qualify as vegetable oils according to all understandings of the term.

Classification

Vegetable oils can be classified in several ways. For instance, by their use or by the method used to extract them. In this article, vegetable oils are grouped in common classes of use.

Extraction method

There are several types of plant oils, distinguished by the method used to extract the oil from the plant. The relevant part of the plant may be placed under pressure to extract the oil, giving an expressed (or pressed) oil. The oils included in this list are of this type. Oils may also be extracted from plants by dissolving parts of plants in water or another solvent. The solution may be separated from the plant material and concentrated, giving an extracted or leached oil. The mixture may also be separated by distilling the oil away from the plant material. Oils extracted by this latter method are called essential oils. Essential oils often have different properties and uses than pressed or leached vegetable oils. Finally, macerated oils are made by infusing parts of plants in a base oil, a process called liquid–liquid extraction.

Sources and Uses

Most, but not all vegetable oils are extracted from the fruits or seeds of plants. For instance, palm oil is extracted from palm fruits, while soybean oil is extracted from soybean seeds. Vegetable oils may also be classified by grouping oils extracted from similar plants, such as "nut oils".

Although most plants contain some oil, only the oil from certain major oil crops complemented by a few dozen minor oil crops is widely used and traded.

Use

Oils from plants are used for several different purposes. Edible vegetable oils may be used for cooking, or as food additives. Many vegetable oils, edible and otherwise, are burned as fuel, for instance as a substitute for petroleum-based fuels. Some may be also used for cosmetics, medical purposes, wood finishing, oil painting and other industrial purposes.

Edible oils

Major oils

These oils make up a significant fraction of worldwide edible oil production. All are also used as fuel oils.

• Coconut oil, a cooking oil, with medical and industrial applications as well. Extracted from the kernel or meat of the fruit of the coconut palm. Common in the tropics, and unusual in composition, with medium chain fatty acids dominant.
• Corn oil, one of the principal oils sold as salad and cooking oil.
• Cottonseed oil, used as a salad and cooking oil, both domestically and industrially.
• Olive oil, used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps, and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps.
• Palm oil, the most widely produced tropical oil. Popular in West African and Brazilian cuisine. Also used to make biofuel.
• Peanut oil (Ground nut oil), a clear oil with some applications as a salad dressing, and, due to its high smoke point, especially used for frying.
• Rapeseed oil, including Canola oil, the most sold cooking oil all around the world; used as a salad and cooking oil, both domestically and industrially. Also used in fuel industry as bio-fuel.
• Safflower oil, until the 1960s used in the paint industry, now mostly as a cooking oil.
• Sesame oil, cold pressed as light cooking oil, hot pressed for a darker and stronger flavor.
• Soybean oil, produced as a byproduct of processing soy meal.
• Sunflower oil, a common cooking oil, also used to make biodiesel.

Nut oils

Nut oils are generally used in cooking, for their flavor. Most are quite costly, because of the difficulty of extracting the oil.

• Almond oil, used as an edible oil, but primarily in the manufacture of cosmetics.
• Beech nut oil, from Fagus sylvatica nuts, is a well-regarded edible oil in Europe, used for salads and cooking.
• Brazil nut oil contains 75% unsaturated fatty acids composed mainly of oleic and linolenic acids, as well as the phytosterol, beta-sitosterol, and fat-soluble vitamin E. Extra virgin oil can be obtained during the first pressing of the nuts, possibly for use as a substitute for olive oil due to its mild, pleasant flavor.
• Cashew oil, somewhat comparable to olive oil. May have value for fighting dental cavities.
• Jamaican cobnut oil, a sweet, fine-flavored oil pressed from the seeds of Omphalea triandra in the tropical Americas. It is also reported to be used as a lubricant.
• Hazelnut oil, mainly used for its flavor. Also used in skin care, because of its slight astringent nature.
• Macadamia oil, with a mild nutty flavor and a high smoke point.
• Mongongo nut oil (or manketti oil), from the seeds of the Schinziophyton rautanenii, a tree which grows in South Africa. High in vitamin E. Also used in skin care.
• Pecan oil, valued as a food oil, but requiring fresh pecans for good quality oil.
• Pine nut oil, sold as a gourmet cooking oil, and of potential medicinal interest as an appetite suppressant.
• Pistachio oil, a strongly flavored oil with a distinctive green color.
• Walnut oil, used for its flavor, also used by Renaissance painters in oil paints.

Citrus oils

A number of citrus plants yield pressed oils. Some, such as lemon and orange oil, are used as essential oils, which is uncommon for pressed oils. The seeds of many if not most members of the citrus family yield usable oils.

• Grapefruit seed oil, extracted from the seeds of grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi). Grapefruit seed oil was extracted experimentally in 1930 and was shown to be suitable for making soap.
• Lemon oil, similar in fragrance to the fruit. One of a small number of cold pressed essential oils. Used as a flavoring agent and in aromatherapy.
• Orange oil, like lemon oil, cold pressed rather than distilled. Consists of 90% d-Limonene. Used as a fragrance, in cleaning products and in flavoring foods.

Oils from melon and gourd seeds

Members of the Cucurbitaceae include gourds, melons, pumpkins, and squashes. Seeds from these plants are noted for their oil content, but little information is available on methods of extracting the oil. In most cases, the plants are grown as food, with dietary use of the oils as a byproduct of using the seeds as food.

• Bitter gourd oil, from the seeds of Momordica charantia. High in α-Eleostearic acid. Of current research interest for its potential anti-carcinogenic properties.
• Bottle gourd oil, extracted from the seeds of the Lagenaria siceraria, widely grown in tropical regions. Used as an edible oil.
• Buffalo gourd oil, from the seeds of the Cucurbita foetidissima, a vine with a rank odor, native to southwest North America.
• Butternut squash seed oil, from the seeds of Cucurbita moschata, has a nutty flavor that is used for salad dressings, marinades, and sautéeing.
• Egusi seed oil, from the seeds of Melothria sphaerocarpa (syn. Cucumeropsis mannii), is particularly rich in linoleic acid.
• Pumpkin seed oil, a specialty cooking oil, produced in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Used mostly in salad dressings. Recent research has generated interest in pumpkin seed oil to treat certain prostate medical conditions.
• Watermelon seed oil, pressed from the seeds of Citrullus vulgaris. Traditionally used in cooking in West Africa.

Food supplements

A number of oils are used as food supplements (or "nutraceuticals"), for their nutrient content or purported medicinal effect. Borage seed oil, blackcurrant seed oil, and evening primrose oil all have a significant amount of gamma-Linolenic acid (GLA) (about 23%, 15–20% and 7–10%, respectively), and it is this that has drawn the interest of researchers.