In the chemical sense, they are in the form of tryglycerides that have different proportions of carboxylic acids. They are extracted and processed to various compositions for everyday use. Most oils and fats produced worldwide and sold in industrial developed regions are refined. The most popular processing technique is hydrogenation and this has been largely responsible for the growth of the margarine and shortening industries.
Hydrogenation lessens the amount of unsaturation and also hardens the oils.
By controlling how far hydrogenation proceeds, oils can be produced with different properties that are adapted to everyday use. FT-NIR spectroscopy has been established as a fast and reliable method for the nondestructive analysis of various materials. Highly repeatable measurements are achieved with FT instrumentation due to the extreme precision of the HeNe laser that is used to establish wavelength accuracy. This benefit becomes apparent when calibrations are transferred to multiple units.