Answer to Question #86272 in Cell Biology for Amir Mehmood Baig

Question

Q.5 : a popular brand of margarine has a label on can that identifies the product as ‘’ partially hydrogenated soybean, palm and cottonseed oil’’:
Q.5(A): what does the process of partial hydrogenation accomplish chemically?

Answer 1

Hydrogenation of oils is associated with the addition of hydrogen to unsaturated fatty acids. Chemically, the process of hydrogenation leads to the transformation of unsaturated cis-fats to unsaturated trans-fats. As a result, partial hydrogenation does not transform double bonds of the fatty acid chain to saturated bonds but leads to the formation of trans-isomers of unsaturated fatty acids. The process results in the production of fats with increased melting temperature transforming liquid plant oils into solid fats.