Abstract
The fatty acid composition and vitamin E content of 12 commercially available brands of margarine and fat spread, mayonnaise and salad dressing were measured.
The fat contents of margarine and fat spread, mayonnaise, and salad dressing ranged widely from 25.13 to 80.61%, 32.79 to 78.93%, 9.50 to 35.02%, respectively.
An analysis of the fatty acid composition showed that many samples contained vegitable oils rich in C18 : 1, C18 : 2, and C16 : 0. In some samples of margarine and fat spread were detected small amount of C18 : 2 although being labelled as “rich in linoleic acid” on the package. Mean values of P/S and n-3/n-6 of margarine and fat spread, mayonnaise and salad dressing were 1.9 and 0.09, 3.8 and 0.23, 4.5 and 0.27, respectively.
The vitamin E content and E/PUFA varied with sample, being 5.5-35.3 and 0.40-1.40 mg/100 g for margarine and fat spread, 2.2-31.6 and 0.36-2.59 mg/100 g for mayonnaise and salad dressing.
The results show that commercial products of margarine and fat spread, mayonnaise and salad dressing with reduced energy and fat content have increased in the market, although there was not enough information available about their fatty acids or vitamin E content.
