Analysis of 22 vegetable oils’ physico-chemical properties and fatty acid composition on a statistical basis, and correlation with the degree of unsaturation

The aim of the current work was to gather the largest possible sample of published data for vegetable oils properties, and conduct a statistical analysis in order to evaluate average values for all properties and for their fatty acid composition. A second objective was to investigate possible correlations between the properties and the degree of unsaturation. In order to achieve both tasks, the available literature on vegetable oils properties and their fatty acid composition was scanned from many well-established databases. In total, 695 papers were gathered that provided 550 different data series of oils properties and 536 of fatty acid composition, for 22 different oils. From the statistical analysis, collective results were derived for each property and quantified based on the specific oil. The effects of unsaturation were investigated too with separate best-fit linear curves provided for each interesting property with respect to the average number of double bonds. Unlike biodiesels, however, only a few (moderately) significant statistical correlations could be established between the vegetable oils properties and the degree of unsaturation, namely for cetane number, cloud and pour point and oxidation stability.