Detection of cotton seed oil in cow ghee using triglyceride profiling

The triglyceride profiling of ghee shows significant variations in different regions of India, influenced by factors such as feeding practices, fatty acid composition, lactation stage, and season. Our study focused on detecting and identifying ghee adulterated with cottonseed oil and ghee sourced from the cotton tract area. Triglyceride profiling was employed on pure, adulterated, and cotton tract area ghee samples. Our findings revealed consistent lower levels of triglycerides with carbon numbers 24 to 30 in cow ghee, while higher levels were observed for carbon numbers 38 to 40 and 50 to 54. However, in ghee adulterated with cottonseed oil, triglycerides with carbon numbers 34 to 38 significantly increased (p<0.05), while those with carbon numbers 50 to 52 decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing concentrations of cottonseed oil. To verify the authenticity of the ghee samples, we analyzed normal cow ghee from Livestock Research Centre, National Dairy Research Institute using parameters including S-total, S2, S3, S4, and S5. The observed values for these parameters (98.77 +/- 0.23, 103.30 +/- 0.19, 99.55 +/- 0.22, 97.42 +/- 1.31, and 98.34 +/- 0.27, respectively) fell within the range specified by International Organization for Standardization. In conclusion, our study highlights the potential of triglyceride profiling as an effective tool for detecting and differentiating ghee adulterated with cottonseed oil and ghee sourced from the cotton tract area. This method is suitable for detecting the presence of cottonseed oil to the tune of 10% in ghee. This technique provides valuable insights into assessing the authenticity and quality of ghee, contributing to the prevention of adulteration practices in the ghee industry.