There are varieties of cooking oil and fat available today and the claims made by them are, at best, confusing. On one side are the traditional ghee, mustard oil, coconut oil, and gingelly oil. Then, there are the used for-decades vanaspati and groundnut oil, as well as the relatively newer kinds of vegetable oil ranging from cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, corn, canola, soybean, and palm to various blends. Lipids are considered one of the most elemental nutrients for humans. Vegetable oil is derived from seeds of plants. Among the oilseeds cultivated in India, from which edible oil is obtained, are groundnut, rapeseed, mustard, safflower, sunflower, soyabean, linseed. The other sources of vegetable oil are palm, cottonseed, coconut and rice bran. They contain essential fatty acids which play an important role in nutrition and also carriers of fat soluble vitamins. It is estimated that about 90% of vegetable oils are used for edible purposes, while the remaining part finds industrial applications. Edible oils processing poses challenges due to its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive compounds. Because the reproductive system in both men and women is constantly producing and dividing new cells, there is potential for mutation and problems when these cells are made of the wrong kind of fats and are oxidized. Because vegetable oils oxidize easily, they deplete the body of antioxidants since the body must use these to attempt to neutralize the oxidation.
