Indices and fatty acids composition of oil and fats
Fatty substances

The characterisation of oils and fats has a long history. For animal fats, Chevreul introduced the titre, which is the melting point of the free fatty acids resulting from saponification of the fat followed by acidulation of the soaps. Later, the fats themselves were characterised by the Saponification Value (SV), which gives an indication of the average relative molecular mass of the fat, and the Iodine Value (IV), which gives an indication of the unsaturation of the fat. Determining the fatty acid composition...