This work presents the performance of supported Pd and Pd-Me (Me= Mo, V and Ph) catalysts in the hydrogenation of sunflower oil. The catalysts were prepared using alumina as support, and were following two different methods of preparation: wet impregnating and sol-gel techniques. The samples were characterized by atomic absorption, N-2 adsorption isotherm, temperature-programmed reduction and hydrogen chemisorption. For Pd monometallic catalysts prepared by wet impregnation (WI) of gamma-Al2O3 and alumina sol-gel (SG), for the same iodine value (IV) and Pd surface, Pd-SG generates more trans-isomers than Pd-WI sample. This could be attributed to differences in the support morphology. Regarding bimetallic catalysts, for a smaller amount of exposed Pd, the Pd-Mo/gamma-Al2O3 and Pd-V/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts show the same activity compared with the respective monometallic catalyst, and increase the selectivity to trans-isomers. The molybdenum and vanadium promoting effect could be a consequence of the formation of an adsorbed initial state, after which the hydrogenation would take place on the Pd surface. On the other hand, Pd-Pb/gamma-Al2O3 showed the lowest hydrogenation activity. This would be result of a certain dimensional limitations on the space lattice of Pd for hydrogenation of double bonds due to the formation of a Pd-Pb alloy. The sol-gel Pd-Mo sample was the most effective catalyst regarding the cis-isomers selectivity and reveals the route for future research. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.