ABSTRACT
Antioxidants effectively improve the stability of fats and oils with lower levels of natural antioxidants such as tocopherols and with lower levels of polyunsaturation. Many fats and oils develop off-flavors during storage. This has been called "reversion," because the oil flavor is reverting to the original flavor of the crude oil. The active oxygen (AOM) has been widely used in the fats and oils industry for measuring the oxidative stability of fats and oils. The method measures the time required for a sample of fat or oil to attain a predetermined peroxide value under the specific conditions of the test. Trans isomers of naturally occurring cis-unsaturated fatty acids are produced when liquid vegetable or marine oils are chemically hydrogenated to produce frying fats or other hardened fat products. An intense discussion has centered on the trans isomers formed during hydrogenation and their potential role in coronary heart disease.
