Report on International IUPAC
Workshop on Fats, Oils, and Oilseeds Analysis
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21-22 November
2000
This workshop (Project
No. 1999-042-1-600) was the first of its kind held by IUPAC in
Brazil/Latin America. It was organized by the National Research Center
for Food Technology of Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research
Organization, and Dr. Regina Lago, of the Local Organizing Committee,
which had as members Dr. Sonia M. Cabral de Menezes (Petrobrás,
Titular Member of the IUPAC Commission on Molecular Structure and
Spectroscopy, I.5) and Dr. Rosemar Antoniassi (Embrapa).
|
The Organizing Committee. From
left to right, second row: Paul Kolodziejczyk, Carmen Dobarganes,
and Marshall Pike; first row: Sonia Cabral de Menezes, Patrick
Dysseler, Regina Lago, and Rasemar Antoniassi. |
Brazil is a well-known vegetable
oil producer (mainly of soybean oil), and this workshop presented
a good opportunity for sharing industrial and academic experiences.
Despite the geographical difficulties of holding the event in Rio
de Janeiro, which is not a vegetable oil-producing or -processing
state, the workshop attracted more than 80 participants, mostly from
Brazil but also from Uruguay, Colombia, and Venezuela.
The program began with a general
look at the importance of analytical data in fat technology, and it
next proceeded to a discussion of the main organizations that develop/validate
methods for lipid analysis (IUPAC, AOCS, and AOAC International).
Because the origin of fat differs from that of food samples, the problem
of lipid extraction from different matrices was treated. Three topics
related to nutritional aspects were also considered on the first day:
quality control of frying fats, an oxidative stability index, and
phytosterols as nutraceutical products.
On the second day, instrumental
analysis of fats and oils was emphasized, including trans fatty acid
determination by high-resolution GC, NMR applications to lipid analysis,
and ICP-MS for oilseed analysis. Analytical criteria for quality and
purity evaluation of olive oils were also discussed, as well as the
Codex and FOSFA requirements for storage and shipping of oils and
fats and analytical methods requirements.
The interlaboratory collaborative
studies carried out by the previous IUPAC Commission on Oils, Fats,
and Derivatives (previously VI.6, and now merged into the Commission
on Food, VI.5) resulting in the IUPAC Standard Methods for the Analysis
of Oils, Fats, and Derivatives (now undergoing revision that will
lead to the 8th Edition) were stressed in most of the workshop sessions.
A summary was printed and distributed to all participants. Supporters
of the workshop, in addition to IUPAC and Embrapa Food Technology,
included FAPERJ (the Rio de Janeiro State Research Funding Agency),
SBOG (Brazilian Society of Oils and Fats), SBCTA (Brazilian Society
of Food Science and Technology), Nestlé Brazil, and Bank of
Brazil.
The workshop provided a timely opportunity
to pay homage to Dr. Leopold Hartman for his contribution to lipid
chemistry. Dr. Hartman has been living in Brazil for more than three
decades, and he is now 96 years old. According to many comments and
messages received, the workshop was considered a success.
Dr.
Regina C. A. Lago
> Published in Chem.
Int. 23(4),
2001