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Coconut oil is a costly commodity in the food and traditional medicinal sectors and its adulteration with cheap palm oil is a serious issue. The present study evaluates the application of 1H NMR spectroscopy to authenticate coconut oil, and to monitor its adulteration with the cheap palm oil substitute. Various parameters such as average chain length (14.25), saponification index (244.66 mg KOH/100 g), molecular weight (652.12), iodine value (8.27 mg/100 g), peroxide value (0.02 meqO2/kg) and percentage of unsaturation (7.81%) were calculated through the NMR technique, and were found to be in concurrence with the values obtained from wet lab experiments. The extent of palm oil adulteration can be detected through NMR by evaluating the chemical shift values for olefinic protons. The findings have a significant impact on both the food and traditional medicine sectors, as NMR spectroscopy can replace the conventional wet lab methods as a reliable and precise method for analysis.

Coconut oil (CO) is a popular cooking medium but its lack of essential fatty acids (FA) is a health concern. Therefore, the aim of this work was to improve the FA profile of CO by blending with flaxseed oil (FO). Blends with various percentages of FO were prepared and studied for physicochemical characterization, thermal and long-term storage stability. The results indicated that the blends made favorable alterations in FA composition without adverse effects to the oxidative stability of the fatty acids and they resisted secondary thermal deterioration up to two hours at 180 ºC. The blend with the highest percentage of FO was stable for nine months. THP-1 cell line studies showed that ω-3 FA from the blend was incorporated into the cells with no adverse effect on cell viability but the inflammatory markers studied remained unaltered. Thus, CO and FO blends could be stored for at least nine months and could be used as cooking medium when prolonged heating is not involved.