Study of Saturated Fatty Acids in Different Traditional Foods Distributed in Isfahan, Iran

Nowadays, one of the causes of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is the overconsumption of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in Iranian diet. Thus, dietary recommendations focus on the reduction of the rate of fat in food. This study is conducted aiming to measure the levels of SFAs in traditional foods produced and distributed in Isfahan, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 40 samples of 20 traditional food types were purchased from 19 restaurants in Isfahan. The SFA content was measured by the gas chromatography (GC) technic. A comparison on the SFA content of the food samples was performed by the independent t-test in different samples in SPSS software. A P-valuse of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

The total average of the SFAs was 43.3% in total fat. The highest amount of SFAs were found in Gheimeh and Ghormehsabzi stews (72.26%) and the lowest amount was found in barley soup (27%). About 45% of the samples had 30-50% of SFAs. Palmitic and stearic acids were found in all samples. Palmitic acid accounted for the highest rate of total SFAs (23.1%).

High levels of palmitic acid in Iranian traditional foods can have a detrimental effect on consumers’ health. Therefore, it is recommended to educate the personnel of restaurants about the role of fat on prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In addition, it is suggested to perform the continuous supervision of restaurants through hygiene inspectors to provide healthy food.