Determination of Some Physical Properties of Selected Edible Oils in Nigeria

Edible oils are commonplace in table food, snacks and industrial food products. This inclined the study in this research work which is aimed at investigating the physical properties of the oils and their varying effect on their electrical conductivity, to determine their edible viability and shelf life. The effect of increased temperature on the viscosity of the oil was studied. Also the electrical conductivity versus power supply through the oil and also the cooling property of the oil were studied using calorimetry experiment. The results show a typical trend of variation in the electrical conductivity and viscosity (dependent variables) and temperature and power supply (independent variables). The electrical conductivity of the oils was found to be increasing with temperature and the viscosity was decreasing with temperature. This is in agreement with earlier postulation. I therefore recommend that it is better to keep edible oils at temperature below 40oC so as to maintain acceptable rate of spoilage and thereby elongated shelf-life.