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Abstract: Characterisation of fatty acids composition of three palm-based reference materials was carried
out through inter-laboratory proficiency tests. Twelve laboratories collaborated in these tests and the
fatty acids compositions of palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin were determined by applying the MPOB
Test Methods p3.4:2004 and p3.5:2004. Determination of consensus values and their uncertainties were
based on the acceptable statistical agreement of results obtained from the collaborating laboratories. The
consensus values and uncertainties (%) for each palm oil reference material produced are listed as follows :
0.20% (C12:0), 1.660.05% (C14:0), 43.39 0.39% (C16:0), 0.140.06% (C16:1), 3.90 0.11% (C18:0),
40.95 0.23% (C18:1), 9.68 0.21% (C18:2), 0.16 0.07% (C18:3) and 0.31 0.08% (C20:0) for fatty
acids composition of palm oil; 0.23 0.04% (C12:0), 1.020.04% (C14:0), 39.66 0.19% (C16:0), 0.18
0.07% (C16:1), 3.81 0.04% (C18:0), 44.01 0.08% (C18:1), 10.73 0.08% (C18:2), 0.20 0.06%
(C18:3) and 0.34 0.04% (C20:0) for fatty acids composition of palm olein; and 0.20% (C12:0), 1.14
0.05% (C14:0), 49.42 0.25% (C16:0), 0.16 0.08% (C16:1), 4.15 0.10% (C18:0), 36.14 0.77%
(C18:1), 7.95 0.29% (C18:2), 0.110.07% (C18:3) and 0.300.08% (C20:0) for fatty acids composition
of palm stearin.
Key words: characterisation, palm-based reference materials, fatty acids composition, MPOB Test Methods p3.4:2004 and
p3.5:2004, consensus values, uncertainties
1 INTRODUCTION
Oils and fats consist mainly of fatty acid triesters and
glycerol or well-known as triglycerides. They are recognised as essential nutrients and source of energy in both
human and animal diets1). Oils and fats also enhanced the
functionality of food products, as they act as heating medium, tenderising agents, flavour and colour carriers, facilitate aeration and others.
Functionality of food products depends on physicochemical properties such as fatty acids composition (FAC),
which is often used to characterise oils and fats2). FAC is
defined as weight percentage of individual fatty acids in
their methyl ester forms after esterification of triglyceride
molecules. Boyaci and colleagues3) emphasised that the
physical properties of oils and fats are dependent on the
distribution of fatty acids on the glycerol backbones, chain
length and degree of unsaturation. FAC is said to be the
most useful chemical feature as many of the chemical tests
Correspondence to: Azmil Haizam Ahmad Tarmizi, Analytical and Quality Development Unit, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6, Persiaran
Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, MALAYSIA
E-mail: azmil_haizam@mpob.gov.my
Accepted February 22, 2008 (received for review January 25, 2008)
275
2 EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Preparation of the reference materials
Refined palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin were purchased from Golden Jomalina Food Industries Sdn. Bhd.
The oils were heated gently until completely liquid before
being dissolved with 0.02 % tert-butylhydroquinone (97 %
purity, Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) and stirred to
ensure homogeneity. Portions of 5 mL of the homogenised
oil were dispersed in 5-mL dark amber glass ampoules
(Scherf Praezision, Meiningen-Dreissigacker, Germany),
flushed with nitrogen and flame-sealed at the ampoule
sealing workbench. The utilisation of such glass ampoules
will help to prevent photo-oxidation and colour changes
during storage. The oil standards were labelled, packed in
fabricated boxes and stored at -20 until dispatch.
276
materials produced. Consensus values (percentage of individual fatty acids) of each oil standard were generated with
95 % confidence interval (CI). Outlying data (extreme values) were detected by Grubb and Cochran tests. Grubb test
identifies outlying mean values (variability) among laboratories whereas Cochran test determines data variability
within laboratories5,13).
Repeatability relative standard deviation, RSDr (relative
standard deviation within laboratory) and reproducibility
relative standard deviation, RSDR (relative standard deviation between laboratories) were determined for each fatty
acid measured according to ISO 5725-213). RSDr is determined from data produced under repeatability conditions
of the same method on identical test items in the same laboratory by the same operator using the same instrumentation within short intervals of time whereas RSDR identified
from data generated under reproducibility conditions,
which the data are produced using the same method on
identical test items in different laboratories, operators and
instrumentations14).
2.4 Stability test
Stability test of the palm-based reference materials produced were carried out for 12 months at four storage temperatures of -20, 0, 4 and 24 (ambient temperature). Periodically, the oil samples were randomly selected
and analysed for their FAC as well as other general stabili-
Table 1
FAa
Pb
Nc
Consensus Value
(Uncertainty)d
sre
RSDrf
rg
SRh
RSDRi
Rj
C12:0
C14:0
C16:0
C16:1
C18:0
C18:1
C18:2
C18:3
C20:0
7
11
9
10
11
8
9
10
12
28
44
36
40
44
32
36
40
48
0.20 ( )
1.66 (0.05)
43.39 (0.39)
0.14 (0.06)
3.90 (0.11)
40.95 (0.23)
9.68 (0.21)
0.16 (0.07)
0.31 (0.08)
0
0.04
0.19
0
0.08
0.12
0.09
0
0.03
0
3.64
0.43
0
2.09
0.30
0.89
0
9.24
0
0.11
0.52
0
0.23
0.35
0.24
0
0.08
0
0.07
0.53
0.08
0.18
0.29
0.29
0.10
0.13
0
7.17
1.23
60.23
4.58
0.71
2.97
60.38
42.33
0
0.21
1.49
0.24
0.50
0.82
0.81
0.27
0.37
277
Table 2
FAa
Pb
Nc
Consensus Value
(Uncertainty)d
sre
RSDrf
rg
SRh
RSDRi
Rj
C12:0
C14:0
C16:0
C16:1
C18:0
C18:1
C18:2
C18:3
C20:0
12
10
9
12
10
10
8
12
9
48
40
36
48
40
40
32
48
36
0.23 (0.04)
1.02 (0.04)
39.66 (0.19)
0.18 (0.07)
3.81 (0.04)
44.01 (0.08)
10.73 (0.08)
0.20 (0.06)
0.34 (0.04)
0.03
0.03
0.22
0
0.11
0.16
0.08
0.03
0
14.48
3.37
0.55
0
2.86
0.37
0.73
12.63
0
0.09
0.10
0.61
0
0.31
0.46
0.22
0.07
0
0.06
0.06
0.31
0.11
0.11
0.53
0.12
0.11
0.05
28.82
5.86
0.79
60.80
2.86
1.21
1.08
53.21
15.27
0.18
0.17
0.87
0.31
0.31
1.49
0.32
0.29
0.15
Pb
Nc
Consensus Value
(Uncertainty)d
sre
RSDrf
rg
SRh
RSDRi
Rj
C12:0
C14:0
C16:0
C16:1
C18:0
C18:1
C18:2
C18:3
C20:0
11
13
9
13
11
11
12
12
12
44
52
36
52
44
44
48
48
48
0.20 ( )
1.14 (0.05)
49.42 (0.25)
0.16 (0.08)
4.15 (0.10)
36.14 (0.77)
7.95 (0.29)
0.11 (0.07)
0.30 (0.08)
0
0.04
0.26
0.03
0.09
0.13
0.09
0
0.04
0
3.84
0.53
17.15
2.17
0.36
1.10
0
11.79
0
0.12
0.74
0.07
0.25
0.36
0.25
0
0.10
0
0.08
0.40
0.11
0.17
1.08
0.39
0.09
0.12
0
6.73
0.80
73.99
4.00
2.98
4.81
83.52
41.32
0
0.21
1.11
0.32
0.47
3.01
1.08
0.26
0.37
278
repeatability standard deviation (sr) of each individual laboratory retained after outliers elimination is observed to be
zero (0) or all the individual laboratory means are found to
be similar, thus resulting in the same overall laboratory
mean value. These conditions apply for C12:0 in both palm
oil (Table 1) and palm stearin (Table 3). In other cases, only
the RSDr is encountered to be 0 %. Although the sr of each
individual laboratory is zero, but the individual laboratory
means differ. This can be observed in C16:1 and C18:3 in
palm oil (Table 1), C16:1 and C20:0 in palm olein (Table 2)
and C18:3 in palm stearin (Table 3).
The FAC quantification of palm oil (Table 1), palm olein
(Table 2) and palm stearin (Table 3) may also be expressed
in the form of bar graph. Example of intra- and inter-laboratory variability of FAC measurement (C16:0 in palm oil) is
illustrated in Fig. 1. The bar graph consists of laboratory
codes with their individual means and standard deviations.
From that, the overall mean of all laboratory means with
its standard deviations were generated at 95 % CI after
outliers were eliminated through Cochran and Grubb tests.
These values were calculated according to ISO Guide 3518).
Pocklington and Wagstaffe5) reported that certification of
FAC in soya-maize oil blend (CRM No. 162) and beef-pig fat
blend (CRM No. 163) was only restricted to major fatty
acids since the determination of minor fatty acids (less
than 1 % of mass fraction) could not be undertaken to an
unacceptable degree of accuracy. They observed that the
4 CONCLUSION
Development of palm-based reference materials for fatty
acids composition has been achieved through inter-laboratory proficiency tests. Establishment of the consensus values (percentage of individual fatty acids) and their uncertainties at an acceptable level of 95 % confidence interval
have been attained using the SoftCRM 1.2.0 software.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the Director-General of MPOB for
permission to publish this work; Director of Product Development and Advisory Services Division and Head of the
Analytical and Quality Development Unit for their suggestions and recommendations; collaborators of the inter-laboratory proficiency tests for their support and laboratory
technicians of the Analytical and Quality Development
Unit for their assistance.
References
1. Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils. Food fats and
oils. 9th edn., Washington D.C. (2006).
2. Ping, T.G. Analytical characteristics of crude and
refined palm oil and fractions. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 109, 373-379 (2007).
3. Boyaci, I.K.; Karabulut, I.; Turan, S. Slip melting point
estimation of fat blends before and after interesterification based on their fatty acid compositions. J. Food
Lipids 10, 193-202 (2003).
4. Tan, Y.A. Quality monitoring (chemical and instrumental techniques). Proceeding of the 27 th Palm Oil
Familiarisation Programme (2007).
5. Pocklington, W.D.; Wagstaffe, P.J. The certification of
the fatty acid profile of two edible oil and fat materials.
BCR Information Reference Materials, Report EUR
11002 EN, Belgium (1987).
6. Boyaci, I.K.; Tekin, A.; Melih, .; Javidipour, I. Viscosity estimation of vegetable oils based on their fatty acid
composition. J. Food Lipids 9, 175-183 (2002).
7. Rabelo, J.; Batisha, E.; Cavaleri, F.V.W.; Meirelles,
A.J.A. Viscosity prediction for fatty systems. J. Am.
Oil Chem. Soc. 77, 1255-1262 (2000).
8. Morad, N.A.; Mustafa Kamal, A.A.; Panau, F.; Yew, T.W.
Liquid specific heat capacity estimation for fatty acids,
280
Table 4
FAa
Tb ()
10
12
Mean
SDd
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.22
0.21
0
0
0.04
0.02
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.20
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.05
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.09
1.12
1.10
0
0.02
0.04
0
C12:0
-20
0
6
24
C14:0
-20
0
6
24
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
C16:0
-20
0
6
24
43.38
0.10
43.15
43.15
43.15
43.20
43.20
43.20
43.20
43.20
43.80
43.95
44.10
43.95
42.75
43.15
43.10
42.80
43.55
43.70
43.60
43.70
43.50
43.65
43.60
43.40
43.33
43.47
43.46
43.38
0.37
0.34
0.39
0.41
C16:1
-20
0
6
24
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.10
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.10
0.20
0.18
0.16
0.17
0.19
0.03
0.05
0.04
0.02
C18:0
-20
0
6
24
4.00
4.00
3.95
4.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
3.95
3.95
3.90
3.80
3.85
3.75
3.80
4.05
4.00
4.00
4.05
3.35
3.45
3.70
4.00
3.87
3.85
3.90
3.96
0.27
0.22
0.14
0.09
C18:1
-20
0
6
24
40.65
0.06
40.60
40.50
40.60
40.65
40.75
40.80
40.80
40.80
40.40
40.40
40.85
40.40
41.25
41.10
41.30
41.30
40.30
40.30
40.30
40.30
41.40
41.40
41.15
40.85
40.78
40.75
40.83
40.72
0.45
0.43
0.36
0.35
C18:2
-20
0
6
24
9.78
0.05
9.90
9.90
9.85
9.85
9.90
9.90
9.90
9.90
9.80
9.70
9.65
9.70
10.10
10.00
10.05
10.05
9.90
9.90
9.90
9.85
9.75
9.65
9.65
9.80
9.89
9.84
9.83
9.86
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.12
C18:3
-20
0
6
24
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.25
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.20
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.18
0.17
0.17
0.18
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.05
C20:0
-20
0
6
24
0.38
0.05
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.15
0.15
0.40
0.25
0.10
0.35
0.40
0.40
0.40
0.40
0.30
0.30
0.25
0.30
0.34
0.32
0.26
0.31
0.05
0.05
0.12
0.09
Fatty acid
Storage temperature
c
Mean of duplicate
d
Standard deviation
b
281
Table 5
FAa
Tb ()
10
12
Mean
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0
0
0
0
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.05
1.00
1.10
1.00
1.05
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.10
1.05
1.10
1.10
1.07
1.08
1.07
1.08
0.05
0.04
0.05
0.03
C12:0
-20
0
6
24
C14:0
-20
0
6
24
1.00
1.00
1.10
1.10
1.10
C16:0
-20
0
6
24
39.88
0.10
40.30
40.00
39.90
39.80
40.05
40.00
39.90
39.95
40.25
40.35
40.25
40.30
39.90
39.45
39.40
39.35
40.00
40.20
40.20
40.10
41.05
40.70
40.45
40.55
40.26
40.12
40.02
40.01
0.42
0.42
0.37
0.42
C16:1
-20
0
6
24
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.19
0.20
0.21
0.20
0.02
0
0.02
0
C18:0
-20
0
6
24
3.90
3.70
3.80
3.80
3.75
3.70
3.70
3.70
3.80
3.80
3.80
3.80
3.80
3.55
3.55
3.70
3.55
3.90
3.90
3.80
3.85
3.60
3.50
3.70
3.70
3.71
3.71
3.75
3.74
0.13
0.16
0.05
0.11
C18:1
-20
0
6
24
43.38
0.05
42.90
43.20
42.70
42.55
43.20
43.30
43.40
43.20
43.05
42.95
43.05
43.00
43.20
43.80
43.60
44.05
43.45
43.30
43.25
43.30
43.10
43.45
43.35
43.30
43.15
43.33
43.23
43.23
0.18
0.28
0.31
0.49
C18:2
-20
0
6
24
10.68
0.05
11.00
11.00
11.05
10.90
10.90
10.90
10.90
10.80
10.70
10.80
10.70
10.75
11.15
11.05
11.10
11.00
10.55
10.50
10.60
10.55
10.35
10.40
10.55
10.45
10.78
10.78
10.82
10.74
0.30
0.27
0.23
0.21
C18:3
-20
0
6
24
0.20
0.30
0.30
0.35
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.25
0.25
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.22
0.23
0.24
0.21
0.05
0.04
0.07
0.02
C20:0
-20
0
6
24
0.40
0.30
0.30
0.40
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.40
0.30
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.50
0.30
0.40
0.40
0.40
0.40
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.34
0.33
0.38
0.33
0.05
0.04
0.08
0.04
Fatty acid
Storage temperature
c
Mean of duplicate
d
Standard deviation
b
282
Table 6
FAa
Tb ()
10
12
Mean
C12:0
-20
0
6
24
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0
0
0
0
C14:0
-20
0
6
24
1.15
0.06
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.25
1.20
1.10
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.20
1.15
1.15
1.15
1.15
1.20
1.19
1.18
1.19
0.03
0.02
0.04
0.02
C16:0
-20
0
6
24
49.50
0.20
49.40
49.50
49.35
49.45
49.40
49.40
49.40
49.40
50.60
50.55
50.55
50.25
49.15
49.00
49.00
49.00
49.80
49.60
49.65
49.60
50.05
50.20
50.05
51.10
49.73
49.71
49.67
49.63
0.53
0.57
0.56
0.47
-20
0
6
24
0.18
0.05
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.15
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.15
0.15
0.13
0.14
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
C18:0
-20
0
6
24
4.23
0.10
4.20
4.20
4.15
4.20
4.20
4.20
4.20
4.20
3.95
4.10
4.10
4.15
4.10
4.10
4.10
4.10
4.20
4.20
4.20
4.20
3.80
3.80
3.85
3.90
4.08
4.10
4.10
4.13
0.17
0.15
0.13
0.12
C18:1
-20
0
6
24
35.95
0.17
35.75
35.75
35.80
35.70
36.00
36.00
36.00
36.00
35.55
35.30
35.55
35.35
36.50
36.50
36.50
36.50
35.75
36.10
36.20
36.10
36.30
36.25
36.25
36.15
35.98
35.98
36.05
35.97
0.36
0.42
0.34
0.40
C18:2
-20
0
6
24
8.28
0.10
8.25
8.30
8.30
8.25
8.30
8.30
8.30
8.30
8.05
7.90
7.90
8.00
8.35
8.40
8.40
8.40
8.20
8.10
7.95
8.05
7.95
7.95
7.90
7.90
8.18
8.16
8.13
8.15
0.15
0.21
0.23
0.19
C18:3
-20
0
6
24
0.10
0.20
0.20
0.15
0.20
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.25
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.11
0.12
0.13
0.16
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.07
C20:0
-20
0
6
24
0.40
0.25
0.20
0.25
0.35
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.05
0.20
0.20
0.20
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.40
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.35
0.30
0.24
0.28
0.31
0.34
0.10
0.06
0.06
0.10
C16:1
Fatty acid
Storage temperature
c
Mean of duplicate
d
Standard deviation
b
283
a
b
Ta ()
Palm Oil
-20
0
6
24
Palm Olein
-20
0
6
24
Palm Stearin
-20
0
6
24
10
12
1.5
1.7
1.9
2.2
2.4
2.2
1.9
2.4
2.8
2.1
2.2
2.4
3.0
1.7
1.7
2.0
3.1
1.8
1.7
1.7
2.8
1.6
2.0
2.5
2.6
1.7
2.5
2.5
2.7
2.9
2.4
2.4
2.6
3.2
2.7
2.4
2.8
3.2
2.0
2.0
2.2
3.6
1.9
2.1
2.8
2.8
1.8
2.4
2.2
3.1
1.0
1.7
1.6
2.3
2.4
2.3
1.5
2.5
2.9
2.2
2.0
2.3
3.1
1.9
2.0
2.2
3.8
2.0
1.6
2.3
3.3
1.7
1.9
1.7
3.7
Storage temperature
Mean of triplicate
a
b
Ta ()
Palm Oil
-20
0
6
24
Palm Olein
-20
0
6
24
Palm Stearin
-20
0
6
24
10
12
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.03
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.07
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.07
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.06
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.06
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.06
0.08
0.08
0.10
0.02
0.04
0.03
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.05
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.05
0.03
Storage temperature
Mean of triplicate
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Analysis by gas chromatography (GC) of the methyl
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14.
15.
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for the analysis of oils, fats and derivatives. 7th edn.,
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Oxford (2002).
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Ooi, C.K. Commercialisation of standard reference
materials from palm oil products. MPOB 117th VIVA
Committee Meeting, VIVA Report No. 391/2007 (07),
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285