Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-05-29
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!. VEGETABLE OILS AND THEIR j.
!. USES AS FOODS. =.

II PEGEIAbLE Oils AND THEIR sfs
:. USES AS FOODS. j.
Observation-Disclosures .l..s..3..s..s..a..s..s..s.
(By Mary Ellen Wilson, Winthrop.)
All life, and all that life accom-
plishes, depends upon the supply of
solar energy stored in the form of
food. The chief sources of this vital
energy are the fats and the sugars,
and the fats contain two and a quar-
ter times the potential energy Of the
sugars. Both, when completely puri-
fed, consist Of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen-elements that are found
freely everywhere in air and water.
So when the sunny Southland exports
fats and oils, starches and sugars, it
Is then sending away nothing mate
rial but what comes back to it in the
next wind. 1t is sending merely some
of the surplus Of radiant energy it
has received so abundantly compact
ed into convenient, portable and
edible form. This article Is to deal
|
storehouses of this solar energy.
There Are Many Vegetable Oils.
Among these are the various nut
oils, olive oil, acorn oil, tomato oil,
sesame oil, and cotton seed oil. How
ever, this discussion will deal with
only three: cotton seed oil, peanut
oil, and oleomargarine. These are
comparatively new. cheap oils, and
their use is being urged by the food
administrators.
| In 1884 an English traveller in this
country, writing about cotton culture,
said: "ln many places it Is usual to
manure the fields with the seed not
used for sowing; but of late years
experience has taught the planters to,
set higher value on it, as 1t contains
considerable quantity of oil, which
is extracted by pressure and is suita-
Bile both for burning and painting.
This oil may, in the course of years,
become an additional source Of wealth
to the planters
| Now cotton seed oil is one of the
most important edible oils in the
world, and especially from the point
of view Of production in the United
States. The SEED of the cotton plant
Is pre-eminently rich In oil and pro-
tein. 1t contains about 20 per cent
of oil, most of which can be squeezed
out of the hot seeds by hydraulic
pressure. 1t comes out as a red IL
quid Of disagreeable odor. This is
decolorized, deodorized and other
wise purified in various ways, usually
by treatment with an alkali, which
neutralizes any free acid the oil may
contain The refined product is
yellow oil, suitable for table use.
Formerly, on account Of popular pre-
judice against any novel food pro-
| ducts,tt used to masquerade as olive
oil. Now, however, 1t boldly competes
with It's ancient rival in the land Of
the olive tree, and America ships
some 100000 barrels Of cotton seed
oil year to the Mediterranean. The
Turkish government tried to check
the spread Of cotton seed oil by call
ing 1t an adulterant and prohibiting
Its mixture with olive oil. The result
was that the sale of Turkish oil fell
off because people found its flavor
too strong when undiluted. Italy i'm
| ports cotton seed oil and exports her
| olive oil.
Northern nations are accustomed to
| hard fats and do not take to oils for
| the table and cooking purposes. I,y
the process of hydrogenation, the
| development Of which makes one OF
the most interesting chapters of tn,
| application Of chemical research TO
manufacturing, cotton seed oil is
hardened and sold as (+), etc. This
| process OF hydrogenatiou is merely
adding hydrogen, which you recall is
gaseous element found freely in
| water. The difference between soft
and hard fats Is merly difference in
the amount Of hydrogen per atom. To
affect this addition of hydrogen a
"catalyst" or coaxing agent is
needed. Finely divided nickel is
the catalyst generally used. This is
removed and Is unchanged by the op-
Grafton. The hydrogen Is usually OBJ
tanned by decomposing water into
hydrogen and oxygen, It's component
parts. One pound Of hydrogen, cost
Ing about one dollar to produce, will
convert 100 mounds of oil into solid