ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Lipid oxidation in foods is a serious problem, difficult to overcome often and leads to loss of shelf life, palatability, functionality, and nutritional quality. Loss of palatability is due to the generation of off-flavors that arise primarily from the breakdown of unsaturated fatty acids during autoxidation. The high reactivity of the carbon double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids makes these substances primary targets for free radical reactions. Autoxidation is the oxidative deterioration of unsaturated fatty acids via an autocatalytic process consisting of a free radical chain mechanism [1]. The chain of reaction includes initiation, propagation, and termination. Propagation reactions are primarily responsible for the autocatalytic nature of autoxidation.
