Properties of shea butter and palm oil used for frying of plantain chips

Year 2025, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 103 - 112, 30.06.2025

Raphael Akinrinlola , Olumide Akinrinlola , Esther Bernard

https://doi.org/10.53663/turjfas.1652896

Abstract

This investigation aim to characterize shea butter and palm oil used in the deep-frying of plantain chips. The deep-frying process was performed with 3000 mL of palm oil and 2000 mL of melted shea butter, both obtained from shea butter and palm oil respectively, which were used for the frying of plantain chips at 170 °C carried out at different times ranging from 4 hours (h) to 32 h. The fried plantain chips were analyzed for their physical, chemical and sensorial quality. The results showed that the samples' density at different time intervals ranges from 0.748 (8 h)-0.828 g cm-3 (20 h) for palm oil, and from 0.808 (16 h)-0.848 g cm-3 (20 h) for Shea butter oil. The acid values of palm oil at different times ranged from 20.3470 at 0 h to 30.294 mg NaoH g-1 at 20 h while that shea butter ranged from 8.639 at 16 h to 16.045 mg NaoH g-1 at 20 h. The range of FFA was between 10.226 (0 h) and 15.223 (20 h) for palm oil, while shea butter varied from 5.309 at 0 h to 8.063 at 20 h. The moisture content of palm oil varies depending on the hour it's fried, with the highest value of 7.7% at the 20th h. while it was at the minimum at 8th h of frying with the value of 0.4%, shea butter's moisture content was the highest with the value of 1.4% after 16 h, and the lowest with the value of 0.2% after 4 h. The range of FFA was between 10.226(0 h) and 15.223(20 h) for palm oil, while shea butter varied from 5.309 at 0 h to 8.063 at 20 h. The moisture content of palm oil varies depending on the hour it's fried, with the highest value of 7.7 after 20 h of frying. while it was at the minimum at 8th h of frying with the value of 0.4, while shea butter's moisture content is highest at 1.4 after 16 h, and lowest at 0.2 after 4 h. The taste of plantain chips fried in palm oil was unique compared to that of shea butter. As time went on, the plantain chips made from shea butter became more acceptable, from being fair initially and excellent by the 16th h before degenerating. Palm oil deteriorates more quickly than shea butter because it is heated continuously without replenishment during the experiment. It can be concluded that shea butter is better in terms of oxidative stability. Additionally, sensory assessment findings suggest that shea butter has a longer lifespan as a frying oil than palm oil, and both have a few metrics that indicate their suitability for home, industrial, and export trade.

Keywords

Characterization , Deep frying , Palm oil , Plantain chips , Shea butter

Ethical Statement

Not applicable

Supporting Institution

No financial support was received for this study.

Thanks

Not applicable.

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