VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS. Oil extraction by traditional methods often
requires various preliminary operations, such as cracking, shelling,
dehulling, etc., after which the crop is ground to a paste. The
paste, or the whole fruit, is then boiled with water and stirred until
the oil separates and can be collected. Such traditional methods have
a low rate of efficiency, particularly when performed manually. Oil
extracted by pressing without heating is the purest method and often
produces an edible product without refining.
Modern methods of oil recovery include crushing and pressing, as well
as dissolving the crop in a solvent, most commonly hexane. Extracting
oil with a solvent is a more efficient method than pressing. The
residue left after the removal of oil (oilcake or meal) is used as
feedstuff.
Crude vegetable oils are obtained without further processing other
than degumming or filtering. To make them suitable for human
consumption, most edible vegetable oils are refined to remove
impurities and toxic substances, a process which involves bleaching,
deodorization and cooling (to make the oils stable in cold
temperatures). The loss involved in these processes ranges from 4 to
8 percent. The FAO concept includes raw, refined and fractioned oils,
but not chemically modified oils.
With some exceptions, and in contrast to animal fats, vegetable oils
contain predominantly unsaturated (light, liquid) fatty acids of two
kinds: monounsaturated (oleic acid - mainly in extra virgin olive
oil) and polyunsaturated (linoleic acid and linolenic acid - in oils
extracted from oilseeds).
Vegetable oils have a wide variety of food uses, including salad and
cooking oils, as well as in the production of margarine, shortening
and compound fat. They also enter into many processed products, such
as mayonnaise, mustard, potato chips, French fries, salad dressing,
sandwich spread and canned fish.
Industrial and non-food uses of vegetable oils include the production
of soaps, detergents, fatty acids, paint, varnish, resin, plastic and
lubricants.
ANIMAL OILS AND FATS. This chapter includes animal fats that are
obtained in the course of dressing the carcasses of slaughtered
animals (slaughter fats), or at a later stage in the butchering
process when meat is being prepared for final consumption (butcher
fats). Butter and similar products obtained from milk are included in
Chapter 18.
Processed animal fats include lard obtained by melting raw pig fat and
tallow obtained from raw fat of other animal species. Animal fats are
largely used in the production of margarine, shortening and compound
fat. They also enter into many processed food products. Industrial
and non-food uses of animal fats include the production of soaps,
fatty acids, lubricants and feedstuffs.
| FAOSTAT CODE | COMMODITY | DEFINITIONS, COVERAGE, REMARKS |
| 0237 | Oil of Soybeans | Obtained by solvent extraction from the beans. Used mainly for food. |
| 0244 | Oil of Groundnuts | Obtained by pressure or solvent extraction. Used mainly for food. |
| 0252 | Oil of Coconuts | Obtained by pressure from copra and by solvent from the residues of pressure extraction. Has both food and industrial uses. |
| 0257 | OIL OF PALM | Obtained from the mesocarp of the fruit of the oil palm by pressure, and also by solvent from the residues of the pressure extraction. |
| 0258 | Oil of Palm Kernel | Obtained from the kernel of the nut of the fruits of the oil palm by pressure in two or three stages at different temperatures. Including oil of babassu kernels. |
| 0261 | Oil of Olives, Virgin | Obtained from olives by mechanical or other physical means. Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed without refining. |
| 0274 | Oil of Olive Residues | Oil extracted from olive residues with solvents. |
| 0264 | Butter of Karite Nuts | A very important vegetable oil in West Africa. Used as a substitute for cocoa butter and in cosmetics. |
| 0266 | Oil of Castor Beans | Obtained by pressure or by solvent. Uses include mainly industrial ones, in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. |
| 1273 | Castor Oil, Hydrogenated | Also called "opal wax". |
| 0268 | Oil of Sunflower Seed | Obtained by pressure extraction. Mainly for food use. |
| 0271 | Oil of Rapeseed Canola oil | Obtained by pressure extraction for food use. Oil recovered with solvent from the residues of the pressure extraction is used for industrial purposes. Canola oil is produced from new varieties of rapeseed. |
| 0276 | Oil of Tung Nuts | Obtained by pressure and used exclusively for industrial purposes. The resulting cake contains a toxic protein and thus cannot be used for feed. |
| 0278 | Jojoba Oil | Obtained by cold pressure. Its peculiar chemical properties make it the only vegetable oil in nature having the same characteristics as spermaceti. Below 15øC it solidifies and assumes the characteristics of wax. It is used as a lubricant, in cosmetics and in pharmaceuticals, and is considered a product with good growth prospects. |
| 0281 | Oil of Safflower Seed | Obtained either by pressure or by solvent. Has both food and industrial uses. |
| 0290 | Oil of Sesame Seed | Obtained by pressure extraction in two or three stages at different temperatures. Sometimes the oil is also extracted by solvent from the residue of the pressure extraction. Used mainly for food. |
| 0293 | Oil of Mustard Seed | Obtained by dry pressure extraction. Has both food and industrial uses. |
| 0297 | Oil of Poppy Seed | Obtained by pressure extraction. Has both food and industrial uses. |
| 0306 | VEGETABLE TALLOW | Obtained by pressure extraction or by solvent from the kernels of the fruit of the Borneo tallow tree and from the outer coating that surrounds the seeds of the fruit of the Chinese tallow tree. Used as a substitute for cocoa butter. Also used in soap, candles, medicines and cosmetics. |
| 0307 | STILLINGIA OIL | Obtained by solvent from the seeds of Stillingia sebifera. Used as a drying agent in paints and varnishes. |
| 0313 | Oil of Kapok | Obtained from shelled seeds by pressure. Used for food and soap. |
| 0331 | Oil of Cottonseed | Obtained first by pressure extraction from the kernels of cotton seeds. The residue from this process is then exposed to a solvent. Used mainly as a food. |
| 0334 | Oil of Linseed | Obtained by pressure extraction. Used mainly in non-food items. |
| 0337 | Oil of Hempseed | Obtained either by pressure extraction or by solvent. Used mainly in non-food items. |
| 0340 | Oil of Vegetable Origin nes | Includes, inter alia, myrtle wax and Japan wax. |
| 0036 | Oil of Rice Bran | Extracted from bran by pressure or, more frequently, by solvents. |
| 0060 | Oil of Maize | Extracted from germ by pressure or by solvents. |
| FAOSTAT CODE | COMMODITY | DEFINITIONS, COVERAGE, REMARKS |
| 0869 | FAT OF CATTLE | Unrendered slaughter fats from bovine animals, including edible and inedible fats that are removed in the course of dressing the carcass. |
| 0871 | Cattle, Butcher Fat | Unrendered fats that are removed during butchering. |
| 0949 | FAT OF BUFFALO | See 0869. |
| 0979 | FAT OF SHEEP | Unrendered slaughter fats of sheep. See 0869. |
| 1019 | FAT OF GOATS | Unrendered slaughter fats of goats. See 0869. |
| 1037 | FAT OF PIGS | Unrendered slaughter fats of pigs. See 0869. |
| 1040 | Pig, Butcher Fat | See 0871. |
| 1043 | Lard | Rendered pig fat. |
| 1065 | FAT OF POULTRY | Unrendered poultry fat. |
| 1066 | Fat of Poultry, Rendered | Rendered poultry fat, including bone fat and fat obtained from waste. |
| 1129 | FAT OF CAMELS | Unrendered slaughter fats. |
| 1160 | FAT OF OTHER CAMELIDS | Unrendered slaughter fats. |
| 1168 | Animal Oils and Fats nes | Animal oils and fats obtained from other animal species and oils and fats recovered from guts, feet, sweepings, hide trimmings, etc. |
| 1221 | Lard Stearine and Lard Oil | Obtained by pressing lard or tallow (oleo-oil, tallow oil, tallow stearine). |
| 1225 | Tallow | Rendered fats of animals other than pigs, excluding tallow oil or stearine. |
| 1241 | Liquid Margarine | See commodity code 1242. Fat content varies from 30 to 70%. |
| 1242 | Margarine and Shortening | Margarine is made principally from one or more hydrogenated vegetable or animal fats or oils in which is dispersed an aqueous potion containing milk products, salt, flavouring agents and other additives. Shortening is a product similar to margarine, but with a higher animal fat content. Shortening and compound fats are used primarily for baking and frying. The fat content of margarine and shortening varies from 70 to 90%. |
| 1243 | Fat Preparations nes | Cooking fats prepared from both vegetable and animal oils and fats. Usually containing 100% fat. |
| 1274 | Oils Boiled, Dehydrated, etc. | Also includes oxidized and sulphurized oils. Animal and vegetable fats and oils whose chemical structure has been modified to improve viscosity, drying ability or other properties. |
| 1275 | Hydrogenated Oils and Fats | Animal and vegetable fats and oils that have been hydrogenated to raise their melting point and increase their consistency by transforming unsaturated glycerides into saturated glycerides. |
| 0994 | Wool Grease and Lanolin | Extracted from the soapy water in which wool has been scoured, or from greasy wool by meand of solvents. Lanolin is obtained by purifying wool grease. Includes wool grease olein and stearin. |
| 1222 | Degras | A residue from tanning leather that is obtained either by pressing or by extraction with solvents. |
| 1276 | Fatty Acids | Manufactured by the saponification or hydrolysis of natural fats or oils. Including acid oils from refining. |
| 1295 | Spermaceti | Waxy substance extracted from the fat of sperm whales and similar cetaceans. |
| 1223 | Oil from Fish and Marine Mammals | Fats and oils from fish and marine mammals extracted from the body or liver, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified. |