AAFS3314 Food Chemistry

Lab Practicum 5: Determination of iodine value (cyclohexane method) of cooking oil

Name : Lim Yan Chen
ID : 15WAD05229
Group : DFN2 (NN2)
Title : Determination of iodine value of cooking oil.
Objective : To determine the amount of unsaturated fat of palm oil and cooking oil.
Introduction : The iodine value in chemistry is the mass of iodine in grams that is
consumed by 100 grams of a chemical substance. Iodine numbers are often used to
determine the amount of unsaturation in fatty acids. This unsaturation is in the form of
double bonds, which react with iodine compounds. The higher the iodine number, the
more C=C bonds are present in the fat. It can be seen from the table that coconut oil is
very saturated, which means it is good for making soap. On the other hand, linseed oil
is highly unsaturated, which makes it a drying oil, well suited for making oil paints.
Material & apparatus : cyclohexane, wijs solution, KI solution, distilled water,
Na2S2O3, burettes, pipettes, wide-necked glass bottles.
Procedure :
0.5g oil + 20 mL Cyclohexane (DUPLICATE)(blank, palm oil, sunflower oil)

+ 25 mL Wijs solution (wait 1hr)

+ 20 mL KI solution
+ 100 mL H2O

Titrate Na2S2O3
Result :
Sample
Blank 1
Blank 2
Palm oil 1
Palm oil 2
Sunflower oil 1
Sunflower oil 2
Calculation :
Iodine value =
12.69 N (V 2V 1)
W

Volume of
Na2S2O3
35.5
37.0
13.4
13.7
8.9
9.1

Iodine value

xx SD

58.0
57.2
69.4
68.9

57.6 0.6
69.2 0.4

Palm oil 1
Iodine value =

12.69 0.1(36.2513.4)
0.5

= 58.0
Palm oil 2
Iodine value =

12.69 0.1(36.2513.7)
0.5

= 57.2
Sunflower oil 1
Iodine value =

12.69 0.1(36.258.9)
0.5

= 69.4
Sunflower oil 2
Iodine value =

12.69 0.1(36.259 .1)

0.5

= 68.9

Discussion :
The result shown that iodine value of sunflower oil is higher than palm oil.
The iodine value represent the amount of unsaturated fatty acid in the oil. The iodine
value of sunflower is different with the palm oil because they contain different
amount of unsaturated fatty acid. Sunflower oil contains more unsaturated fatty acid
than palm oil. There are 5% palmitic acid, 6% stearic acid, 30% oleic acid
(monounsaturated omega-9) and 59% linoleic acid (polyunsaturated omega-6) in
sunflower oil; Palm oil has an especially high concentration of saturated fat,
specifically, of the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid (44%-45%) and
monounsaturated oleic acid (39%-40%) is also a major constituent of palm oil.
(Malaysia Palm Oil Board)
Iodine value is an indication of the oils stability and health properties. The
higher the iodine value, the less stable the oil and the more vulnerable it is to
oxidation and free radical production. High iodine value oils are prone to oxidation
and polymerization. During heating, such as when used in cooking, oils with a high
iodine value readily oxidize and polymerize. Polymerization is an irreversible process
which causes the fatty acids to become hard, insoluble, plastic-like solids. When high
iodine value oils are heated, you are creating polymerized fatty acids in your food.
The higher the temperature or the longer the exposure to heat, the greater the degree

of polymerization. So, lower iodine value oil is more suitable for preparing food
without undergoing heating to prevent oxidation and formation of free radical.

Im not agree coconut oil has a higher IV than olive oil. Around 50% of the fat
content in coconut oil is a saturated called lauric acid; The major fatty acids in olive
oil triacylglycerols are oleic acid (C18:1), a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. It
makes up 55 to 83% of olive oil and linoleic acid (C18:2), a polyunsaturated omega-6
fatty acid that makes up about 3.5 to 21% of olive oil. The greater amount of
unsaturation fatty acid, the higher the iodine value. Therefore, the iodine value of
olive oil is higher than coconut oil.
Conclusion : Sunflower oil contain more unsaturated fat than palm oil.
Reference :

Firestone D (MayJun 1994). "Determination of the iodine value of oils and fats:
summary of collaborative study".

Obtaining the Iodine Value of Various Oils via Bromination with Pyridinium
Tribromide Michael Simurdiak, Olushola Olukoga, and Kirk Hedberg Journal of
Chemical Education Article ASAP

Orthoefer et al., 1996; Tyagi and Vasishtha, 1996; Choe and Min, 2007