Table 2.

Lipid quality indices

Item	Description
Color	Quantified relative to the Fat Analysis Committee (FAC) standard, ranging from 1 (light) to 45 (dark).
Fatty acid profile	Relative amounts of individual fatty acids in a sample.
Free fatty acids	Amount of fatty acids not bound to the glycerol backbone in a triglyceride.
Insolubles	Amount of sediment in a sample. For example, fiber, hair, hide, bone, or soil.
Iodine value	Measure of chemical unsaturation, expressed as grams of iodine absorbed by 100 g of fat. The iodine value can be calculated based upon fatty acid profile.
Moisture	Amount of moisture in a sample.
Nonelutable material	Reflects the total amount of non-nutritional material; includes moisture, impurities, unsaponifiable material, glycerol, and oxidized and polymerized fats.
Saponification value	An estimate of the average molecular weight of the constituent fatty acids in a sample, defined as milligrams of KOH required to saponify 1 g of lipid. The greater the saponification value, the lower the average chain length.
Titer	The solidification point of fatty acids in lipids, which is an important characteristic in producing soaps or fatty acids.
Total fatty acids	The total of both free fatty acids and fatty acids combined with glycerol.
Unsaponifiables	A measures of material in the lipid that will not saponify (form a soap) when mixed with caustic soda (NaOH or KOH). Examples include: sterols, hydrocarbons, pigments, fatty alcohols, and vitamins.