Corn oil is a vegetable oil made from the kernel of the corn plant. It is used mainly as a cooking and salad oil and in such food products as margarine and potato chips. Refined corn oil has a pale, yellow color.
The United States produces most of the world’s corn oil. During processing, machines separate the undeveloped new plant called the germ or embryo from the rest of the kernel. The germ contains about 20 per cent oil. The oil can be squeezed from the germ, or it can be obtained by solvent extraction. This method involves treating the germs with a liquid solvent, which separates the oil from the germ. Corn oil consists of about 55 per cent polyunsaturated fat, a substance many nutritionists consider essential to a healthy diet (see Fat).
See also Corn (Uses of corn) (Corn in industry).
