## 3 Results and Discussion
### Fatty Acids Analysis  
Table 3 presents the concentration of the fatty acids of analyzed margarine samples, and as can be seen from 37 fatty acids investigated, only 18 were quantified. The 18 quantified fatty acids were grouped depending on the chain length and according to the degree of unsaturation into 4 groups as follows: short- and middle-chain saturated, long-chain saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Of the 4 categories mentioned, the highest amount was the long-chain saturated fatty acids category (C14:0-C20:0), ranging between 85.61 \(\upmu\)g/mg for M1 samples and 127.30 \(\upmu\)g/mg for M3 samples, while the short and middle-chain saturated fatty acids (C8:0-C12:0) were present in a small amount (from 12.95 \(\upmu\)g/mg to 19.22 \(\upmu\)g/mg). The monounsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (C14:1-C20:1) also represent an important category of the chemical composition, varying from 53.50 \(\upmu\)g/mg (M1) to 65.64 \(\upmu\)g/mg (M3). The polyunsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (C18:2-C18:3) of margarine samples ranged between 31.16 \(\upmu\)g/mg and 46.10 \(\upmu\)g/mg. All analyzed margarine samples contained a significant quantity of lauric, myrsitic, palmitic, and stearic saturated fatty acids and considerable quantities of oleic and linoleic unsaturated fatty acids. From the saturated fatty acids quantified, it can be seen that the dominant fatty acid was palmitic acid for all margarine samples; the M1 margarine samples presented a lower concentration of 60.01 \(\upmu\)g/mg, whereas the highest concentration of 94.76 \(\upmu\)g/mg was recorded for M3 margarine samples. Similar results were also reported by [PERSON] et al. [30] and [PERSON] [31] on both margarines and shortenings. According to [PERSON] et al. [32], the palmitic acid results designate the greater influence of palm oil in the margarine production process. Furthermore, the most abundant monounsaturated fatty acid was oleic acid, ranging from 50.28 \(\upmu\)g/mg for M1 samples to 55.89 \(\upmu\)g/mg for M2 and 62.81 \(\upmu\)g/mg for M3 samples. From the polyunsaturated category, only linoleic, \(\gamma\)-linolenic, and linolenic acids were identified; significant concentrations of linoleic acid were present. Of the three groups of samples analyzed, the M3 group presented the highest values of fatty acid concentration, whereas the M1 group presented lower levels of fatty acid concentration; Pearson correlation highlighted the positive connection between a sample's fat content and the concentration of fatty acids at a level of \(p<0.05\) (r = 0.986). Taking into account that the margarines analyzed contain between 53.79% and 56.73% saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and between 43.26% and 46.20% unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), and considering the World Health Organization recommendation, the ratio of UFAs and SFAs was also calculated. The results for margarine samples varied from 0.76 to 0.85, which \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Sample**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Outside**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Inside**} \\ \cline{3-8} \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & **M1** & **M2** & **M3** & **M1** & **M2** & **M3** \\ \hline M1 & & - & 1.77 & 14.00 & 0.60 & 0.46 & 10.86 \\ \hline M2 & & & - & 12.23 & 2.36 & 1.47 & 9.12 \\ \hline M3 & & & & - & 14.59 & 13.65 & 3.43 \\ \hline M1 & & & & & - & 0.99 & 11.45 \\ \hline M2 & & & & & & - & 10.48 \\ \hline M3 & & & & & & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: The CIE L*a*b* color differences of margarine samples. are smaller than 1.6; the World Health Organization recommends a ratio of UFAs and SFAs higher than 1.6 [33]. Regarding the fatty acids with atherogenic potential, it is well known that lauric acid (12:0), myristic acid (14:0), and palmitic acid (16:0) have this effect. The quantity of those acids found in the analyzed margarine samples ranged from 75.86 ug/mg for M1 samples to 119.33 ug/mg for M3 samples; the obtained results were much smaller than those reported by [PERSON] et al.