The quality of vegetable oil from three varieties of sunflower seeds (helianthus annuus)

Vegetable oils become susceptible to oxidation during their processing. The appropriate extraction and refining conditions of oil from two experimental cultivars (Madero-91 and Cianoc-2) of sunflower seeds and a commercial one (Victoria) as a control, were studied. Isopropyl alcohol was used in the extraction and refining, and compared with hexane. The refining was performed by the miscella method at 40, 50, 60 and 70%. Free fatty acids (FFA) and malonaldehyde analysis of crude oils afforded no significant differences among solvents and sunflower varieties. In refined oils, differences found with the miscella concentration, the malonaldehyde content and FFA content were not significant. Cianoc-2 was the best source for oil production because of its lower values in FFA and malonaldehyde content.