Author(s)

Ferdinand Kouoh Elombo^1*, Erika Van Damme^2,3, Clara Delepine³, David Depraetere², Ludovic Chaveriat^2,3, Paul Lunga Keilah¹, Nico Fréderic Njayou¹, Patrick Martin^2,3*

¹Laboratory of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
²Département de Chimie, IUT Béthune, Université d’Artois, Béthune, France.
³Unité Transformations & Agroressources (ULR7519), Universitè d’Artois-UniLaSalle, Bethune, France.

Vegetable oils are a source of energy, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and fat-soluble vitamins useful for human health care and development. These oils also contribute to organoleptic quality of their products’ derivatives. However, their chemical and physical properties can be modified by the mode of their extraction, storage and distribution. These modifications might negatively affect the nutritional quality of the oils. The goals of this study were to: sample different vegetable oils for cosmetic or dietary use marketed in Cameroon, and verify purity and oxidation states of each kind of oil through determination of its acidity, iodine, peroxide, saponification, refractive indexes and the conformity of the labeling. The carotene content, the level of polar components and specific absorbance were also determined. As the result, six oils namely palm, palm kernel, coconut, black cumin, peanut and shea butter were collected. Apart from labeling, chemicals and physicals parameters analyzed were generally in accordance with the Cameroonian and Codex Alimentarius standard. This study suggests that vegetable oils sampled in the Cameroonian market may not expose consumers to lipid oxidation products generating pathological oxidative stress and inflammation. However, efforts in application of existing standard need to be done as far as labeling are concerned.

Vegetable Oils, Quality Control, Labeling Compliance, Lipid Oxidation, Oxidative Pathology

Elombo, F. , Damme, E. , Delepine, C. , Depraetere, D. , Chaveriat, L. , Keilah, P. , Njayou, N. and Martin, P. (2024) Cosmetic or Dietary Vegetable Oils Sampled in the Cameroonian Market May Not Expose Consumers to Lipid Oxidation Products Generating Oxidative Stress and Inflammation. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 15, 193-202. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2024.153014.