Corn oil, phytosterol component, phytonutrient components, antioxidant activity, anti-carcinogenic activity,anti-inflammatory activity, hypolipidemic activity and nutraceutical activity
Description : Oil that extracted from corn is termed as corn oil. It is considered as deep frying cooking oil as
Article Details :
Oil that extracted from corn is termed as corn oil. It is considered as deep frying cooking oil as it has high smoking point about 232°C, which makes it ideal for deep frying purposes. It also offers numerous health benefits.
Characteristics
- It is liquid in room temperature
- It has bland odour basically it is odourless
- It is yellow in colour
Nutritional profile
Fats
- It is packed with saturated as well as unsaturated fatty acids and it has seen that corn oil contains comparatively higher amount of unsaturated fatty acids than saturated fats
- It mainly contains myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid as saturated fatty acids
- Omega 3 fatty acid and omega 6 fatty acids are mainly present in corn oil as unsaturated fatty acid
- The ratio of omega 6 fatty acid to omega 3 fatty acid in corn oil, is 46:1
- It is completely free from cholesterol
Vitamins
- It mainly contains fat soluble vitamins and it is significantly rich in Vitamin E and Vitamin K
- It has seen that various fat soluble vitamins are destroyed during corn oil extraction method except Vitamin E
Biologically active compounds
- It is rich in phytonutrients that has potential nutraceutical activities
- It contains flavonoids and polyphenolic compounds that help to exhibit antioxidant activities
- Phytosterol is another important biologically active component of corn oil that shows strong hypolipidemic activity
Preparation of corn oil
- Corn oil is generally extracted from corn
- Corn is a low fat food thus its oil extraction method is very complex and lengthier
- At first the kernels of corn are pressed then the impurities are removed and they are subjected to extraction methods
- Various solvents are used for this extraction method and corns are exposed to several chemical processes through which the corn oil is finally extracted
Health benefits
Role on eye
- Consumption of corn oil is very effective for promoting eye health
- It helps to promote vision as well and plays significant role in decreasing the risk of losing eye sight
- It is packed with antioxidants, omega-3-fatty acids and flavonoids which help to protect the eye especially the retina from oxidative damages that ultimately help to decrease the prevalence of eye disorders
- It has seen that consumption of corn oil significantly improves the symptoms of glaucoma, age related macular degeneration, lymphoma, cataract, inflammatory and autoimmune uveitis, melanoma, ocular inflammation, dry eye syndrome, diabetic retinopathy and retinoblastoma
Role on cardiac health
- Its unsaturated fatty acid contents especially polyunsaturated fatty acid contents like omega-3-fatty acids, linoleic acid etc help to improve cardiac health as well as functionality
- Its phytosterol components are responsible for decreasing cholesterol concentration thus decreases the risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease
- Its flavonoids and antioxidant components are responsible for protecting the heart as well as the vascular system from oxidative damages thus its consumption is very beneficial for reducing the risk of developing cardio vascular diseases
- It significantly reduces the prevalence of strokes
- It helps to prevent hypertension as well
Role on regulating cholesterol level
- It plays significant role in decreasing blood cholesterol level
- It is rich in phytrosterols, which are plant compounds that have structural similarity with cholesterol
- These plant based sterol components are responsible for decreasing cholesterol absorption in body thus significantly decreases cholesterol level especially the level of LDL and VLDL
- It has seen that corn oil contains relatively higher amount of phytosterol than other cooking oil thus it should be included in diet for reducing elevated cholesterol concentration, which helps to improve the lipid profile and also decreases the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, cardio vascular diseases and obesity
Anti-inflammatory activity
- Phytosterols, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids components of corn oil exhibit strong anti-inflammatory activities
- It significantly reduces inflammation and swelling by reducing the concentration of inflammatory marker in body
- It also helps to decrease pain
- It has seen that its consumption is extremely beneficial for decreasing the prevalence of skin inflammation, Read more