Abstract
Abstract
Vegetable oils are important constituents of a healthy diet. Still, unsaturated fatty acids present in vegetable oils are susceptible to oxidation, which leads to undesirable changes in sensory, chemical and nutritional properties of oils. To prevent this problem, antioxidants are applied with herbs and spices being one of the most important sources of natural antioxidants. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) can be used to detect free radicals, which are the short-lived intermediates of lipid oxidation, and to monitor changes in oxidation susceptibility. In this study, the ESR spin trapping technique was used as a potential method for the evaluation of the resistance to free radical formation in rapeseed and sunflower oils enriched with herb extracts. The antioxidant effect of herb extracts on vegetable oils was also investigated by measuring their ability to scavenge DPPH free radical using EPR spectroscopy. The herb extracts generally improved the radical scavenging properties of sunflower and rapeseed oils but their influence on the onset of rapid lipid oxidation as measured by spin-trapping EPR depended on the type of oil and on the extract concentration.