A laboratory apparatus that could be used to treat pure triglycerides under simulated deep fat frying conditions was designed and built. By the use of this apparatus, the volatile decomposition products produced during frying could be quantitatively collected at the same time. Pure trilinolein was treated in this apparatus at 185 C for 74 hr. The volatile decomposition products were collected quantitatively'. Their fractionation and identification will be reported in a subsequent paper. The nonvolatile decomposition products were isolated from the treated trilinolein as the non-urea-adduct-forming methyl esters. They constituted 26.3% of the treated trilinolein and were separated into seven fractions by repeated liquid column chromatography. Chemical and physical analyses of these fractions indicated that the chemical reactions taking place under simulated deep fat frying conditions were not entirely the same as those during simple heating under air. One of the seven fractions was further purified by thin layer chromatography and then identified as a cyclic carbon to carbon linked dimer which amounted to 4.9% of the treated trilinolein. Another fraction was further purified by thin layer chromatography, followed by gas chromatography, and then identified as noncyclic hydroxy Ipaper of the Journal Series, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers, The State University. 2present address: Regional Research Lab., Hyderabad 9, India. dimers formed through carbon to carbon linkages. The noncyclic dimers constituted 2.8% of the treated trilinolein. The other four fractions were depolymerized by hydroiodic acid. The depolymerization products were fractionated by thin layer chromatography and then analyzed. It was estimated that the treated trilinolein contained 8.4% of trimers formed through carbon to carbon linkages, and 4.9% of dimers and trimers joined through carbon to carbon or carbon to oxygen linkages in the same molecule and also trimers, in which all the three monomeric units were joined through carbon to oxygen linkages.