Glossary

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Hydrogenation

Procedure for transforming liquid vegetable oils into solid, spreadable fats

Hydrogenation makes it possible to use vegetable oils like rapeseed oil or soybean oil for producing margarine.

The procedure was invented in 1901 by the German chemist Wilhelm Normann. Hydrogenation transforms unsaturated fatty acids into saturated fatty acids. This increases their melting point, turning liquid oils into solid fats at room temperature. Before hydrogenation, using animal fat was the only way of producing fat-based spreads.

Conventional hydrogenation requires a nickel catalyst and high pressures and temperatures. Under these conditions, a part of the poly-unsaturated fatty acids can change into trans fatty acids, which are now considered unhealthy. Today, it is possible to hydrogenise oils using enzymes (transesterification of fatty acids). This process does not result in trans fatty acids.