Table 2.

Fatty acid composition of edible fats and oils, expressed as per cent fatty acid, weight‐for‐weight (%, w/w); equal to grams fatty acid per 100‐g fat

	Saturated				MUFA	PUFA		Total mean ± SD
	10:0 + 12:0	14:0	16:0	18:0	18:1ω9	18:2ω6	18:3ω3	SFA	MUFA	PUFA
Saturated fats
Coconut	54	19	9	3	6	2	0	85	6	2
Palm kernel	52	16	8	3	15	2	0	79	15	2
Palm	–	1	44	5	40	9	0	50	40	9
Cocoa	–	–	26	34	33	3	0	60	33	3
Butterfat (cow)	6	11	27	12	29	2	0	56	29	2
Beef tallow	–	3	24	19	43	3	1	46	43	4
Lard (pork fat)	–	2	26	14	44	10	0	42	44	10
							Mean ± SD	60 ± 16	30 ± 15	5 ± 3
PUFA (linoleic)
Peanut	–	–	11	3	52	28	0	14	52	28
Sesame	–	–	9	5	39	45	0	14	39	45
Safflower	–	–	7	2	19	75	0	9	19	75
Cottonseed	–	1	24	3	18	52	0	28	18	52
Sunflower	–	–	7	5	26	61	0	12	26	61
Corn	–	–	13	2	31	53	1	15	31	54
Rice bran	–	0.5	22	3	43	21	1	26	43	22
							Mean ± SD	17 ± 7	33 ± 13	48 ± 18
PUFA (α‐Linolenic)
Flaxseed (linseed)	–	–	6	3	20	17	53	9	20	70
Canola (rapeseed)	–	–	3	2	60	20	10	5	60	30
Soy (commodity)	–	–	11	4	23	54	7	15	23	61
Walnut	–	–	7	2	18	58	14	9	18	72
							Mean ± SD	10 ± 4	30 ± 20	58 ± 19
MUFA
Olive	–	–	13	3	71	10	1	16	71	11
Avocado	–	–	14	–	65 (16:1, 6)	13	1	14	71	14
Soy (high oleic)*	–	–	11	4	75	<9	3	15	75	<12
Peanut (high oleic)	–	–	7	3	76	4	0	10	76	4
							Mean ± SD	14 ± 3	73 ± 5	8 ± 5

^* For high oleic soy.

Data are from Firestone (1999) and Butzen & Schnebly (2007).

MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid; SD, standard deviation; SFA, saturated fatty acid.