NCOMA Research Report
Frying Oil Performance Rankings
21 oils ranked by the metric that actually matters: how many fry cycles each delivers before reaching 25% Total Polar Materials.
0
Best-in-class fry cycles (HO Palm Olein)
Composite lab testing at 25% TPM endpoint
0x
Performance gap between best and worst oil
355 cycles (HO Palm Olein) vs 60 cycles (Grapeseed)
10–40x
Faster oxidation rate: linoleic vs oleic acid
Choe & Min, 2007
The Wrong Metric
Cost per gallon is a lie
The foodservice industry buys frying oil by price per gallon. But a cheap oil that degrades in 60 fry cycles costs far more than a premium oil that lasts 355 cycles. The real economics are measured in cost per fry cycle — how much each batch of food actually costs to produce.
A $3.50/gallon soybean oil lasting 72 cycles costs $0.049 per cycle. A $5.00/gallon high-oleic palm olein lasting 355 cycles costs $0.014 per cycle — less than a third the price, despite looking more expensive on the invoice.
71% of U.S. foodservice operators choose frying oil based on price per gallon alone.
NCOMA / State of the Fryer Report, 2026
The Data
21 Oils Ranked by Frying Performance
Fry cycles to 25% Total Polar Materials — the international standard for oil degradation. Colors indicate PUFA content, the single strongest predictor of fry life.
Data synthesized from peer-reviewed frying studies. Actual cycle counts vary with food type, fryer volume, filtration practices, and replenishment rate. Rankings reflect relative durability under standardized conditions.
All under 15% PUFA
Palm olein, tallow, coconut, ghee, and HO sunflower share one trait: minimal polyunsaturated fat.
All above 50% PUFA
Sunflower, cottonseed, corn, soybean, and grapeseed — the most common U.S. frying oils — all degrade rapidly.
#1 and #2 are palm
Palm oil comes from a fruit, not a seed. Its natural balance of saturated and monounsaturated fats gives it exceptional frying stability.
The PUFA Pattern
Polyunsaturated fat is the enemy of fry life
The correlation is stark. Oils with high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content degrade faster because their double bonds are vulnerable to oxidative attack under heat. Linoleic acid — the dominant PUFA in most seed oils — oxidizes 10 to 40 times faster than oleic acid.
Every dot on this scatter plot represents one of the 21 oils. The pattern is unmistakable: higher PUFA means shorter fry life. The 15% PUFA line cleanly separates high-performers from the rest.
Choe, E. & Min, D.B. (2007). Chemistry of Deep-Fat Frying Oils. Journal of Food Science.
Best performers
All under 15% PUFA
Mid range
16–35% PUFA
Worst performers
50%+ PUFA
Bubble size reflects Oxidative Stability Index (OSI, hours)
Same Plant, Different Oil
The sunflower proof
Nothing demonstrates the PUFA effect more clearly than comparing two sunflower oils. Conventional sunflower — 66% PUFA — lasts 107 fry cycles. High-oleic sunflower — just 9% PUFA — lasts 210 cycles. Same plant. Same species. Nearly double the fry life, achieved entirely by breeding for a different fatty acid profile.
107
cycles
Conv. Sunflower
66% PUFA
20% MUFA
6h OSI
High PUFA = rapid degradation
210
cycles
HO Sunflower
9% PUFA
82% MUFA
25h OSI
Low PUFA = 2× fry life
Same plant. Same species. Nearly double the fry life — achieved entirely by breeding for a different fatty acid profile.
The Aldehyde Problem
Degraded oil is not just wasteful — it is harmful
When PUFA-rich oils break down under heat, they produce volatile aldehydes — reactive compounds linked to chronic inflammation, cardiovascular damage, and neurodegenerative disease. A 2021 study by Grootveld found that reheated PUFA-rich oils generate aldehyde concentrations up to 20 times World Health Organization safety limits.
The oils that last longest also produce the fewest harmful byproducts. Frying performance and food safety are not competing priorities — they are the same priority.
Aldehydes from PUFA-rich oils reached 20x WHO recommended limits in controlled frying studies.
Grootveld et al. (2021). Acta Scientific Nutritional Health.
Myth Busted
Smoke point does not predict frying performance
The most persistent myth in commercial frying is that smoke point determines how well an oil performs. It does not. Smoke point measures the temperature at which an oil begins to visibly smoke — a metric of initial tolerance, not ongoing stability.
Refined avocado oil has one of the highest smoke points of any cooking fat (around 270 °C) yet ranks 14th in fry durability at 140 cycles. Coconut oil has a relatively modest smoke point (around 177 °C) yet ranks 4th with 250 cycles. De Alzaa et al. (2018) demonstrated conclusively that smoke point is not a reliable indicator of an oil's performance or safety under frying conditions.
Avocado oil: 270 °C smoke point, 140 fry cycles. Coconut oil: 177 °C smoke point, 250 fry cycles. Smoke point tells you when oil smokes — not when it degrades.
De Alzaa, F., Guillaume, C., & Ravetti, L. (2018). Evaluation of Chemical and Physical Changes in Different Commercial Oils during Heating.
Palm oil is a fruit oil
Unlike soybean, canola, sunflower, and other seed-extracted oils, palm oil is pressed from the flesh of a fruit — the oil palm fruit. This distinction matters: fruit oils naturally carry a balanced fatty acid profile rich in palmitic and oleic acids, with minimal polyunsaturated fat. That natural composition is why palm olein ranks first and second on every frying performance metric.
The interspecific hybrid (OxG) variety further concentrates oleic acid, pushing fry life to 355 cycles — nearly six times that of conventional soybean oil.
Go Deeper
Explore the full data
The Oil Atlas provides complete profiles for every frying oil. The Cost Calculator lets you model your own cost-per-cycle numbers based on real purchase prices and consumption rates.
All Reports/Frying Oil Performance Rankings