Mechanism, indexes, methods, challenges, and perspectives of edible oil oxidation analysis

Abstract

Edible oils are indispensable food components, because they are used for cooking or frying. However, during processing, transport, storage, and consumption, edible oils are susceptible to oxidation, during which various primary and secondary oxidative products are generated. These products may reduce the nutritional value and safety of edible oils and even harm human health. Therefore, analyzing the oxidation of edible oil is essential to ensure the quality and safety of oil. Oxidation is a complex process with various oxidative products, and the content of these products can be evaluated by corresponding indexes. According to the structure and properties of the oxidative products, analytical methods have been employed to quantify these products to analyze the oxidation of oil. Combined with proper chemometric analytical methods, qualitative identification has been performed to discriminate oxidized and nonoxidized oils. Oxidative products are complex and diverse. Thus, proper indexes and analytical methods should be selected depending on specific research objectives. Expanding the mechanism of the correspondence between oxidative products and analytical methods is crucial. The underlying mechanism, conventional indexes, and applications of analytical methods are summarized in this review. The challenges and perspectives for future applications of several methods in determining oxidation are also discussed. This review may serve as a reference in the selection, establishment, and improvement of methods for analyzing the oxidation of edible oil.

Highlights

• The mechanism of edible oil oxidation analysis was elaborated.

• Conventional oxidation indexes and their limited values were discussed.

• Analytical methods for the determination of oxidative products and qualitative identification of oxidized and non-oxidized oils were reviewed.

Keywords:

• Edible oil
• oil oxidation
• mechanism
• indexes
• oxidation analysis
• analytical methods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2019YFD1002400, 2019YFD1002403) for the financial support.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2019YFD1002400, 2019YFD1002403) for the financial support.