Packaging of Edible Oil and Fat
Analysis of results from some studies in flexible
packaging materials carried out indicate that
flexibles with appropriate thickness and
specifications could be effectively deployed for
edible oil, vanaspati and ghee packaging, for
medium and even for long shelf-life periods.
Oils and fat form an important
constituent of human food. In
India, the fats used as cooking
media are generally vegetable oil,
vanaspati and ghee.
Vegetable oil is derived from seeds
of plants. Among the oilseeds cultivated
in India, from which edible oil is
obtained, are groundnut, rapeseed,
mustard, sesame, safflower, sunflower,
niger, soyabean, linseed and castor.
The other sources of vegetable oil are
palm, cottonseed, coconut and rice
bran. Generally the two methods employed
for obtaining edible oil are
pressing and solvent extraction. The
crude oil thus obtained may be refined,
bleached and de-odourised to remove
pigments, objectionable odours and
flavours and non-triglyceride material.
Oil is liquid at room temperature and
contains a large proportion of unsaturated
fatty acids.
Vanaspati is refined hydrogenated
vegetable oil. It is solid at room temperature,
as during hydrogenation, the
fatty acids get saturated.
Ghee is pure clarified fat with especially
developed characteristic
physical structure and flavour. Ghee
is exclusively obtained from milk,
cream or butter from various animal
sources by means of processes, which
results in almost the total removal of
moisture and solid-non-fat contents.
In India, different varieties of edible
oil are consumed, generally depending
on the regional preferences
and availability.
India is one of the largest producers
and consumers of edible oil in the
world. Indian Vegetable Oil Industry
comprises around 1,50,000 oilseed
crushing units with a total capacity of
425 lakh tonnes, 800 solvent extraction
units with capacity of 345 lakh tonnes
of the oil-bearing material, about 300
refineries with capacity of 50 lakh
tonnes and 205 vanaspati units with
annual capacity of 32 lakh tonnes.
....contd.
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