Modifying Vegetable Oils for Food and Non-food Purposes

Oils and fats are an important source of energy for the human diet and alsocontributesignificantlytothesensorycharacteristicsoffood.Manyoilsarealsoused for non-food applications, although industrial use currently accounts foronly a small proportion of the world vegetable oil production, less than 5% oftotal production, mostly for biodiesel. About 80% of edible oils are derivedfrom plant sources and temperate annual oil seeds (soy, rapeseed, sunflowerand peanut) account for about 60% of this total. Soybean oil is by far thedominantoilinthiscategory,accountingforoverhalfoftheworldvegetableoilproduction.Improving the functional and nutritional qualities of vegetable oils hasgarnered much attention over the last 15 years or so. This chapter will describesome of the attempts to genetically improve plant seed oils, with specialemphasis on soybean oil, for food and non-food uses.