ABSTRACT
Oxidation and browning are the two chemical routes for food deterioration. Nonenzymic oxidation (NEO) reactions are discussed in this chapter. High temperature processes such as pasteurization and UHT treatment increase the rate of NEO. Refrigeration or freezing does not hinder oxidation because the solubility of oxygen in aqueous solution increases at low temperatures. Understanding the chemistry of food deterioration is important if we are to develop effective interventions for such processes. The characteristics of food oxidation (Section 9.1) and redox potentials (Section 9.2) are presented at the start of this chapter. Reactive oxygen species, the immediate promoters of oxidation, are introduced in Section 9.3. Nonenzymic catalysts for oxidation are described in Section 9.4 followed by oxidation inhibitors, antioxidants, in Section 9.5. The final section on NEO (Section 9.6) covers applied aspects of the topic related to some real food systems.
