ABSTRACT
Lipid hydroperoxides were identified as autoxidation products of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the early work of Farmer (1945) and Bolland (1946 and 1949). Farmer and his group developed the free radical theory of autoxidation, which involves an attack of oxygen at the allylic position with the formation of unsaturated hydroperoxides. Although hydroperoxides are more stable than radical species, they are still weak oxidizing agents that decompose to peroxyl and alkoxyl radicals, leading to secondary oxidation products including aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, acids, and lactones (Benzie 1996). The secondary oxidation products are responsible for impaired taste, flavor and texture in foods and for a number of disasterous reactions in biological tissues and the human body.
