Effect of antioxidants on oxidative stability of edible fats and oils: Thermogravimetric analysis

Thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the oxidative stability of various edible oils (olive oil, milkfat) and triacylglycerides (triolein, trilinolein), while the effect of natural (alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid) and synthetic antioxidants (butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and tertiary butyl hydroquinone were evaluated by addition to trilinolein. Oil resistance to oxidation was obtained by measuring the increase in sample weight due to the uptake of molecular oxygen, the temperature at maximum sample weight, and the temperature at the onset of oxidation. When comparing sample weight increase, trilinolein proved to be oxidatively less stable than triolein, olive oil, and milk fat, while triolein was less stable than olive oil and milk fat. Olive oil showed significantly higher stability than milkfat when comparing the temperature at the onset of oxidation. When comparing effectiveness of antioxidants, a combination of 0.01% BHA and 0.01% BHT increased trilinolein stability the most.