Introduction
Palm oil is one of the world's most widely used vegetable oils, found in countless food and nonfood products. Because it's used so widely, maintaining its quality is essential to meet health and safety standards and customer expectations.
When palm oil is used for frying, heat, water, and air cause it to gradually break down through a process called oxidation, where oil molecules react with oxygen and degrade over time. This can lower the oil's quality and, in some cases, pose health risks. Oxidation happens in stages, starting with early breakdown products called peroxides, which continue to break down further the longer the oil is used.
Oil quality is typically assessed using two measurements: the peroxide value (PV), which tracks early-stage breakdown, and the acid value (AV), which tracks a related breakdown process called hydrolysis. Lower values generally indicate better oil quality, though very degraded oils can sometimes show misleadingly low readings as breakdown products continue to change form.
Like what you're reading?
To view the full content, please answer a few questions.