The evaluation of the fatty acid profile of fats and oils, such
as soybean oil, that are subjected to heat can provide important
data concerning the changes to each fatty acid during
this process. Some studies have shown that the alteration of
vegetable oils is influenced by the amount of unsaturated
fatty acids present, and that the loss of a-linolenic acid
(C18:3) can vary from 20 to 25% (Juárez et al. 2005).
Initially, samples revealed linoleic acid (C18:2) to be the
main fatty acid, corresponding to more than 50% of the
total fatty acids identified (Table 3). Kim et al. (2010) also
found that linoleic acid is the major fatty acid in soybean
oil, representing 50.5%. According to the Codex Alimentarium,
soybean oil should contain between 4.5 and 11%
a-linolenic acid. In this study, the oils were made up of
between 3.81 and 5.64% of this fatty acid at 0 h. On the