High-Oleic, Reduced-Saturate Soybean Oils

Product designers are continually looking for new oil options to deliver stability, clean flavor and an improved health profile in the foods they createand the soybean industry has been busy developing new products to fit that bill.

The United Soybean Board (USB) notes that new oils processed from high-oleic soybeansdeveloped over the last several years through advanced plant breeding and biotechnologydeliver improved oxidative and flavor stability. USB suggests that products requiring high heat during processing, such as deep-fried foods, will particularly benefit from use of this oil due to its high degree of resistance to flavor breakdown. And not only does the oil help solve the trans fat issueit has zero grams of trans fatit has reduced levels of saturated fat (20% or more compared to traditional soybean oil). Most varieties of high-oleic soybean oil also have reduced linolenic acid (less then 3% compared to 7% in traditional soybean oil). High-oleic soybean oils are those that contain 75% or higher oleic acid.

Beyond frying, applications for high-oleic soybean oil also include its use as a spray oil for crackers, as a blending component for formulating margarines and shortenings, and in a wide variety of bakery applications, including cookies and pita chips.

In frying applications, high-oleic soybean oils fare well on the oxidative-stability index (OSI), defined by the number of hours needed to reach an end point at a given temperature (usually 110°C). The OSI values for high-oleic soybean oil are 40 to 60 hours, while commodity soybean, corn, cottonseed, canola and sunflower oils generally show values in the range of 3 to 14 hours.

High-oleic soybean oils remain in liquid form below ambient temperatures, and are therefore easily pumped and handled. The liquids are well-suited for packaging in gallon or 35-lb. containers.

High-oleic oils are now available for testing by retail and foodservice customers. Availability is currently limited, but USB notes that samples are available now to begin testing and supply could increase 10-fold within approximately three years. Its important for interested members of the food industry to contact their supplier today.

United Soybean Board

St. Louis, MO

Email: [email protected]

Website: soyconnection.com