Vegetable oil

Lore & Background

Vegetable oils have been part of human culture since antiquity. Olive oil was produced as early as 6000 BC in present-day Israel, and plant oils were used in ancient Egyptian mummification. Palm oil became a major global commodity during the Industrial Revolution, used as an industrial lubricant for machinery in Britain. By around 1870, palm oil was the primary export of some West African countries and formed the basis of soap products such as Lever Brothers' 'Sunlight' and Colgate-Palmolive's 'Palmolive'.

Scientific advances in the 19th and 20th centuries transformed vegetable oil production. In 1780, Carl Wilhelm Scheele demonstrated that fats were derived from glycerol, and Michel Eugène Chevreul later deduced they were esters of fatty acids and glycerol. Wilhelm Normann introduced hydrogenation of liquid fats in 1901, leading to margarine and vegetable shortening. In the United States, Procter & Gamble marketed cottonseed oil as Crisco in 1911, a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to lard. Soybean oil became the most popular vegetable oil in the US by the 1950s–1960s, later surpassed globally by palm oil in 2006.

Vegetable oils have also been used as fuel. Rudolf Diesel designed his engine to run on vegetable oil, and his first engine ran on peanut oil in 1893. The first biodiesel patent was granted in 1937. Periodic petroleum shortages spurred research into vegetable oil as a diesel substitute in the 1930s–1940s and again in the 1970s–1980s. Biodiesel, produced via transesterification, is now widely used, especially in Europe where it is incorporated at 8% in French diesel fuel.

Reader's Guide

Vegetable oils are significant as a fundamental component of human diet and industry for millennia. Their history reflects technological and economic shifts: from ancient olive oil production to the Industrial Revolution's demand for palm oil as a lubricant, to modern hydrogenation creating margarine and shortening. The development of canola oil in the 1970s by Canadian researchers, named from 'Canada Oil low acid', exemplifies agricultural innovation responding to market and health concerns. The sharp rise in global production—125% between 2000 and 2020—driven largely by palm oil, underscores their growing role in food, cosmetics, paints, lubricants, and biofuels. Vegetable oils are generally recognized as safe by the FDA, and there is no evidence that seed oils are unhealthy. Their versatility, from frying to industrial insulation, and their use as a renewable fuel source, position them as a key commodity in both historical and contemporary contexts. The legacy includes both widespread culinary use and ongoing research into sustainable production and applications.

Did You Know?

• Olive oil production dates back to at least 6000 BC in present-day Israel.
• Palm oil overtook soybean oil as the main vegetable oil produced globally in 2006.
• Rudolf Diesel's first engine ran on peanut oil in 1893.
• The name 'canola' was coined from 'Canada Oil low acid' by Canadian researchers in the mid-1970s.