Corn oil is used primarily for food. It is favored as a salad oil and frying oil because it contains little cholesterol; large quantities of it are converted into margarine by hydrogenation, a process in which the oil is combined with hydrogen at high temperature and pressure in the presence of a catalyst.
Corn oil also has multiple industrial uses. For example, it has been incorporated into soaps, paints, and inks. It also has been used in the production of certain insecticides and in the manufacture of biodiesel.
