Oxidation of sunflower oil during storage

Effects of temperature and oxygen concentration on oxidative deterioration during storage of crude sunflower oils, obtained by pressing and solvent extraction, were studied. Oxidation was monitored through several analytical and chromatographic methods that determine chemical and physical changes or analyze specific oxidation compounds at different stages of the process: peroxide value, p-anisidine value, free fatty acids, weight gain, total content and distribution of polar compounds, and composition of fatty acids. Extracted oil showed a higher oxidative stability than pressed oil. Oxidative deterioration was strongly dependent on temperature, oxygen availability, and the ratio of exposed surface to sample volume. A kinetic model of two series reactions was developed to represent oxidation rate in terms of peroxide value, the reaction rate constants and their temperature dependence being evaluated by nonlinear regression. Finally, good correlations between the percentage of polar compounds or oxidized triglyceride monomers and the peroxide value were found.