Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is an instrumental
method available to the oils and fats researcher (8). This
technique is used for studying various heat-related phenomena
in materials by monitoring associated changes in enthalpy.
It offers a sensitive and reproducible fingerprint
method for identification of vegetable oils and fats. DSC has
been used to describe and interpret thermal properties and
chemical composition of 17 vegetable oil samples in terms of
melting and crystallization behaviors (9), to monitor oxidation
processes (10), and to determine total polar compounds
in heated oils (11).