Evaluation of Fatty Acid Indices and Fatty Acid Content Including Trans Fat of Different Fried Food Types Using Gas-Liquid Chromatography Technique

Abstract

Nowadays, fried foods gaining a worldwide popularity although deep-frying of foods leads to many adverse changes in the food constituents and fatty acid profile. These changes make fried foods more harmful to human health upon consumption especially when frying oils are used for several cycles. In this study, fatty acid profile status of the most popular fried foods sold in street restaurants and shops was assessed using gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The examined fried food types included variable items as chicken wings, nuggets, broasted chicken, fish, shrimp, octopus, French fries, mashed potato, falafel, eggplant and onion rings. Results revealed a high saturation as well as high trans fatty acids content among the examined samples which reached to 49.55% and 5.3%, respectively. Regarding fatty acid indices, nearly all samples failed to meet the international recommended guidelines of polyunsaturated/saturated “P/S” (samples had P/S ratio from 0.16 to 0.57) and Omega-6/Omega-3 “n-6/n-3” (ratio ranged from 22.14 up to 95.28). Local legislations should set clear limits regarding saturated fats and trans fats content in fried foods. Moreover, routine supervision of fried food restaurants and street shops should be adopted to monitor their commitments towards those legislations.