Edible oil quality as measured by thermal release of pentane

As part of their thermal decomposition products, fatty hydroperoxides produce normal hydrocarbons. The extent of hydrocarbon formation can be measured and associated with the quality and potential stability of an oil. Edible oils containing linoleic acid develop 13-hydroperoxy-9,11-octadecadienoic acid as one product of autoxidation. On thermal decomposition this hydroperoxide yields pentane; the amount released has been correlated with the flavor scores of fresh and aged soybean and cottonseed oils and with the peroxide values of these oils. The quantity of pentane released has an inverse linear relationship to flavor score and a direct linear relationship to peroxide values. Edible oils exposed to light exhibit a different relationship between flavor score and thermally derived pentane than do the same oils when autoxidized in the dark. Presented at AOCS Meeting, New Orleans, May 1967.