Warning about fatty acid compositions in some Iranian mayonnaise salad dressings

INTRODICTION: The beneficial or detrimental effects of dietary fats on health and well-being largely depend on their fatty acid composition. The contribution of high intake of trans fatty acids (TFAs) and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) to the risk of coronary heart disease has been proved. In this study fatty acid composition of different mayonnaise samples marketing in Iran has been analyzed. Total lipids were extracted with Folch technique. All samples were transformed into methyl ester and analysis of fatty acid methyl esters were performed by gas chromatography (GC) with 60 meters capillary column and flame ionization detector. The results show that TFAs ranged from 0.6% to 3.5% with linolelaidic acid (C18:2 9t, 12t) being the most common fatty acid in Iranian mayonnaises and they have high amount of SFAs (from18.1% to 24.9%) and unsaturated fatty acids (68.4%to 74.4%). The most common fatty acids in Iranian tested mayonnaises are unsaturated followed by SFAs and significant variation among content of trans fats in these products, which is related to their procedure.