Glyceride composition of fats and oils determined by oxidation and crystallization methods

Summary The glyceride composition of four dissimilar fats and oils was determined by two independent methods a) systematic fractional crystallization from acetone, and b) Kartha’s modification of Hilditch’s acetone permanganate oxidation method. Results by the two methods were in fair agreement for lard, chicken fat, and cottonseed oil but not for palm oil. Calculations were also made of glyceride distribution according to the patterns of random and restricted (Kartha’s hypothesis) distribution. The values calculated for either pattern however did not agree well with those obtained experimentally by either method, except for one of the four fats, chicken fat.