Kinetics of the Kreis test through response surface methodology

The Kreis test is one of the procedures for early detection of oxidative products of fats and oils. The reaction is complicated, sensitive and continuous. The kinetics of the Kreis test have been studied as a function of reagent, phloroglucinol, oil quantity and incubation period for three oils with different fatty acid profiles, storage life and presence of compounds other than triglycerides. A central composite rotatable design with each factor at five levels required 20 experiments for each oil. The results of experiments carried out in duplicate have been examined by analysis of variance, and polynomials of appropriate degree were fitted to the data. The polyhedron search method was used to compute optimum conditions for carrying out the test for each oil. Three-dimensional graphs were generated to bring out the differences in the oils and the kinetics for each oil. Though “compromised” optimized conditions have been reported, the results indicate the necessity of more detailed investigation into the reaction.