ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Data for global production and consumption of oils and fats are generally restricted to 17 different kinds of materials (see Chapter I). This group of 17 does not even include cocoa butter, the annual production of which is 0.7 million tons. Many other lipids are traded at lower levels, and yet others are of potential rather than actual value at the present time. These will be discussed in this chapter along with other products described as specialty, exotic, or gourmet oils and those available in superrefined form. In addition to research publications cited in this chapter, information on minor oils is available in four chapters of the book by Kamel and Kakuda (1-4), in The Lipid Handbook (5), in Ucciani's valuable collection of fatty acid composition (6) and in an older book by Pryde et al (7).
