Question

Content of unsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid is highest in –
A. Sunflower oil
B. Cottonseed oil
C. Groundnut oil
D. Coconut oil

Answer 1

Hint: Linolenic acid or omega-6 acids are poly-saturated acids which are insoluble in water. Its chemical formula is C₁₈H₃₂O₂. It is used to produce arachidonic acid.

Complete answer:
The percentage of the unsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid in the various oils. The oil having the highest percentage of the unsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid will have the highest content.
Let us find out the content of unsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid in various oils –
We know that sunflower oil contains about $65.7\% $ and the cottonseed oil contains about $59\% $ of linolenic acid. We also know that groundnut oil contains about $32\% $ of linolenic acid. However, the coconut oil contains only about $1.7\% $ of linolenic acid.
On arranging the above percentages of linolenic acid in various oils in the descending order, we get,
$65.7\% > 59\% > 32\% > 1.7\% $
Corresponding to these percentages, we can write the order of the oils as –
Sunflower oil > Cottonseed oil > Groundnut oil > Coconut oil
As the percentage of linolenic acid is the maximum in sunflower oil, we can say that the sunflower oil has the highest content of unsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid in it.
Hence option A is correct.

Note: The linolenic acid is a type of unsaturated fatty acid. Unsaturated fatty acids are the class of lipids that have double and triple bonds in them. Precisely it belongs to the category of polyunsaturated fatty acids and is one of the most essential acids. These are the acids that contain more than one double bond. Linolenic acid consists of 18 carbon atoms and 3 double bonds. There are two acids- linolenic acid with linoleic acid. The linoleic acid also belongs to the class of unsaturated lipids or PUFA. Linoleic acid consists of 18 carbon atoms and 2 double bonds.