Hydrogen. The process is called hydrogenation.
Oil (vegetable oil usually) is reacted with hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst to form saturated fat (normally a solid at room temp)
The chemical name for the process of hardening vegetable oils is hydrogenation. This process involves the addition of hydrogen atoms to unsaturated fatty acids in the oil to make them more saturated and solid at room temperature.
The process called "hydrogenation" adds chemical bonds within the oil to decrease the number of double carbon bonds, changing the fat from unsaturated (fewer hydrogen bonds) to saturated (more hydrogen bonds).Saturated fats tend to be solids.
Hydrogenation refers to an enzymatic chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another substance. Its product is a saturated organic compound.
Vegetable oil hardens through a process called hydrogenation, where hydrogen atoms are added to the oil molecules. Factors that contribute to this process include temperature, pressure, and the presence of a catalyst such as nickel.
Trans Fats
Trans Fats
Trans fats
Hydrogenated oils are made from liquid vegetable or seed oils and are created to mimic saturated fats. Saturated fats are those that are solid at room temperature. Hydrogenation, the process of polymerizing liquid fats[oils] by heating and injecting hydrogen gas into them, creates "trans-fats", or solid "plasticated" fats which we now know, (or are told), are worse for us than the saturated fats they were designed to replace. ANY fats that are solid at room temperature are either saturated fats or trans-fats.
Vegetable shortening is made by hydrogenating vegetable oils, which involves adding hydrogen to the oil under high pressure and temperature. This process changes the structure of the oil, making it solid at room temperature. The hydrogenated oil is then filtered and refined to create the final product, vegetable shortening.
Hydrogen atoms are added to the double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids during the process of fat hydrogenation to saturate the bonds and convert the unsaturated fats into saturated fats.