Value Of Vegetable Oils

Vegetable oils form too small a portion of the modern bill of fare. Oils of vegetable origin, whether taken in their natural form or pressed out, and used with other foods, are the most valuable nutrients known for the production of heat and energy. By this statement I mean to convey the idea that a given quantity of fat will produce more heat and energy than any other article of human nutrition, and that vegetable fats are more valuable than animal fats, because they are more adapted to the fat metabolism of the human body, and less likely to contain harmful substances. Vegetable oils contain a larger per cent of olein, which is considered the most palatable and the most valuable fat known.

Olives And Olive-Oil

The olive is a unique plant, standing along the border line between fruits and nuts. Ripe olives contain from 40 to 60 per cent oil, the best quality of which is extracted by cold pressure, the cheaper grades being pressed out at higher temperature. The superiority of olive-oil is due to the fact that it is composed almost wholly of olein; that it contains very little fatty acids and other impurities, and has a mild, sweet, and agreeable flavor.

The adulteration of olive-oil has been extensively practised, but the agitation of pure food, and the demand for same are improving the quality of this excellent article of food.

Cottonseed-Oil

Cottonseed-oil is the largest vegetable oil industry in America. It is also the cheapest of vegetable oils. The cottonseed-kernel from which the oil is taken is not an edible product. Though used as cattle feed, it contains alkaloid substances which sometimes have a poisonous effect when fed too generously.

The methods of cottonseed-oil manufacture are more complex than those of olive-oil. The oil must be heated and bleached with certain chemical agents, and if designed for salad-oils, frequently a portion of the stearin is removed to make the oil more liquid.

When the cottonseed-oil is carefully manufactured, it is considered to be entirely free from harmful substances. However, as the original material contains poisonous combinations, and as chemical agents are used in refining and bleaching, cottonseed-oil products are open to the same criticism as glucose and refined sirups; that is, they are wholesome when properly made, but cheap and careless production renders the product undesirable as food. Manufactured under careful Government supervision, cottonseed-oil will, no doubt, be one of the great foods of the future. I recommend the purer brands of cottonseed-oils, when pure olive-oil cannot be obtained or afforded.

Peanut-Oil

Peanut-oil is an excellent food substance which is almost entirely neglected in this country. It contains the best portion of the peanut. Other vegetable oils, valuable as foods, and the use of which is to be recommended, are sesame-oil and sunflower-oil. These products are not produced extensively in this country.

Cocoa-Butter

The cocoa-butter is pressed from the beans from which cocoa and chocolate are made. The butter has a flavor similar to these articles. Cocoa-butter should not be confused with cocoanut-butter. These products are very different in origin.

Cocoanut-Butter

Cocoanut-butter is not extensively used in America as a food product, owing to the fact that the exposed fat globules oxidize very rapidly. It is extensively used in Germany, however, and with the introduction of better methods of preservation, we expect to see cocoanut-butter more generally used in this country, as the source from which it is derived is almost unlimited.

Palm-Oil

Palm-oil comes from a different species of the palm plant than that which produces the cocoanut. It is a very inexpensive product and one which is chiefly used in the production of soap and candles, although it is perfectly wholesome as a food. Such products have not been utilized in this country as food, because our boundless prairies and corn-fields have made the production of cattle and swine cheap, and our fat supply has swung toward points of least resistance.

Linseed-Oil

Not all vegetable oils are edible or wholesome. Some contain, in addition to olein, stearin and palmitin, and other fats quite as undesirable. Castor-oil, for example, contains ricinolein, which is a poison, and to which its purgative action is due. Croton-oil is the most powerful laxative known to medicine, owing to the fact that Nature abhors a poison.

Linseed-oil contains large quantities of linolein, which is the substance that oxidizes, forming the stiff, rubbery coat on the surface of linseed-oil when exposed to the air. This makes linseed-oil valuable matter to the painter, but objectionable as a food.