Determination of the degree of oxidation in highly-oxidised lipids using profile changes of fatty acids

The degree of highly oxidised lipids was determined by a modified method using profile changes of fatty acids in lard and soybean oil heated at 180 °C. The usefulness of the modified method was compared through conjugated dienoic acid (CDA) and/or p-anisidine value (p-AV) methods. Absolute values, which were expressed as equivalent to an internal standard (C11:0), of both unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) decreased significantly during thermal oxidation (p < 0.05) while relative percentage of SFA increased and those of UFA decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The content of caprylic acid (C8:0) increased significantly (p < 0.05) as thermal oxidation time increased. The ratio of total saturated over total unsaturated fatty acids (SFAs/UFAs) or caprylic acid (C8:0) over UFAs could be useful markers to determine the degree of oxidation. Antioxidant capacity of sesamol, a free radical scavenger, was determined using the ratio of fatty acids. The modified method can be applied to determine the quality control of fried foods containing highly oxidised and abused oils, which may not be measured correctly using CDA and p-AV.