Physicochemical property, fatty acid composition, and antioxidant activity of ostrich oils using different rendering methods

Ostrich Oil is well known for its nutritional, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical uses due to the fact that it has a high content of essential fatty acids. However, the quality of ostrich oil is important in terms of the effectiveness of products containing this oil. This study therefore aimed to prepare ostrich oils from abdominal adipose tissues using two different methods, being the classical method and a developed rendering method. The results revealed that both types of oils had physicochemical properties, heavy metal contents, and fatty acid compositions within the allowable limits set by the Codex Standard for Named Animal Fats CODEX STAN 211-1999. However, the ostrich oil obtained from the classical method had a stronger yellow color than that from the developed method. Furthermore, the total polyunsaturated fatty acids, iron content, and antioxidant activity of the ostrich oil obtained from the developed method were higher than those from the classical method. The developed rendering method can therefore produce high quality ostrich oils and can be easily adapted to processing other ratite oils.