Why do chefs prefer some oils and shun others? Swetha Sivakumar explains

Oils from soy, palm and corn are cheaper to refine and easily available on store shelves, but are they versatile or even healthy? Check out how picking the right cooking oil affects the body.

What makes a good oil? Why are some so expensive? What makes sesame and olive oil a chef’s favourite, and oils made from soy, palm and corn so cheap. Take a look.

Rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFA), natural varieties such as olive oil are also prized for their aroma and flavour. (Pixabay)

Soybean oil: For all the talk about plant-based protein and mock meat, most soy is still used as animal feed. Only 7% of soy produced globally ends up in food products for humans; 80% is used to make high-protein meal for cattle. But the oil in the cattle feed becomes rancid if left for too long. So it is extracted, refined and sold as cheap cooking oil. Soybean oil is richer in Omega-6 content than Omega -3 content, a factor that has been linked with increased risk of inflammation in the body.

Corn oil: In the case of the corn kernel, only 4% is fat from which one can extract oil. Yet, there is so much corn being produced in the world (1.2 billion metric tonnes worldwide in 2021) that even that meager 4% amounts to a lot of oil. Which is why this oil is so prevalent. Corn oil is also richer in Omega-6 content than Omega -3 content.

Palm oil: The palm tree is a rich source of oil, yielding 4 tonnes per hectare grown — compared to 1.4 tonnes of oil per hectare from coconut and 0.6 tonnes per hectare from sunflower. Oil from palm can be derived both from the fruit and the seed kernel. That’s two oils for the price of one! The resultant oils are refined and fractionated into many parts and sold to both the food and cosmetics industries. Palm fruit oil and palm kernel oil are rich in saturated fats, excessive consumption of which can raise the risk for heart disease.

Natural oils prized for their natural aroma and flavour tend to be rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFA). Olive oil is 76% MUFA, mustard oil is 70% and sesame oil is 42% MUFA. Diets rich in MUFA, like the Mediterranean diet, tend to lower the risk of heart disease, studies have shown. Some have even been shown to have cardio-protective properties.