Margarine is made by hydrogenation of vegetable oil with a heterogeneous catalys
ID: 100340 • Letter: M
Question
Margarine is made by hydrogenation of vegetable oil with a heterogeneous catalyst, usually nickel. The problem with this process is that it always causes some of the normally cis fatty acids to isomerize to the trans which are a health hazard. On the other hand, butter (made from cows milk) contains cholesterol and many saturated fats as well as trans fats and is harmful to the circulatory system as well. Vegan butter is made from vegetable oil without the catalyst that causes trans fats. How could that be done?
Explanation / Answer
Answer:
Margarine is prepared from vegetable oils which are liquid at room temperature as well as refrigeration temperature due to the high content of unsaturated fatty acids by catalytic hydrogenation.
Catalytic hydrogenation is a chemical reaction to convert unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids using finely dispersed nickel catalyst at very high temperature of around 230 degree C. However, under these conditions, nickel can react with components of the fat to form fat soluble salts which may contaminate the food product i.e. margarine.
If filtration is insufficient, finely dispersed nickel catalyst may also enter the margarine.
According to recent research, nickel has life threatening toxicity as it may cause toxic effects to the kidneys, supress immunity and cardiotoxic.
This hydrogenation process alters the unsaturated fat structure to trans fatty acids which are highly toxic to the body. Also, the high temperatere elevates the rate of conversion of polyunsaturated fatty acids to trans fatty acids.
The vegan butter is made up from natural vegetable oils like coconut oil and olive oil which contain about 92% saturated fatty acids . The coconut oil contains the fats which are naturally saturated with hydrogen. the mixture is then refrigerated to get solidify. Thus, the vegan butter is made without hydrogenation and chemical or heavy metal catalyst like nickel which forms trans fat.
Therefore, the vegan butter is more beneficial than butter, made from cow's milk and margarine due to many benefits of coconut oil. one study found that the coconut oil helps to increase healthy cholesterol i.e. HDL. Butter, made from cow's milk contains saturated fats i.e. cholesterol and margarine contains trans fats. Trans fat increases LDL i.e. bad cholesterol and lowers HDL good cholesterol. Saturated fat also increases the LDL (bad cholesterol) but less than the trans fats and does'nt affect HDL.