Heated fats. I. Studies of the effects of heating on the chemical nature of cottonseed oil

When cottonseed oil was heated at 225°C. in the presence of air for long periods of time, nonurea adduct‐forming monomers and dimers were formed which were toxic to rats. Analyses showed that the toxic fractions contained moderate amounts of carbonyl and hydroxyl and that they contained unsaturation difficult to remove by hydrogenation. Cyclic structures appeared to be present in the dimer fraction. The production of nonurea adducting monomers and dimers is associated with polymerization and other reactions of linoleic acid.