ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PLANTS EXTRACTS OF UKRAINIAN ORIGIN AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF SUNFLOWER OIL

Abstract

Today, more and more food manufacturers are abandoning the usage of synthetic antioxidants because of the negative impact they have on the human body. The main natural hydrophobic antioxidants such as tocopherols and carotenoids, are not cheap commercial products and are currently produced much less than fat industry requires. Therefore, obtaining other natural antioxidants from vegetable raw materials could be a solution. Among the potential sources of such raw materials were leaves and roots of herbs, bark and leaves of berry crops. 20 plants were studied. The purpose of the study was to obtain comparative data on the antioxidant activity of water-alcohol extracts of Ukrainian origin plants, as well as to study their influence on the stability of sunflower oil during its heat treatment. The induction periods of sunflower oil in the presence of antioxidants were determined, the antioxidant activity of plant extracts was determined based on the data obtained and compared with the antioxidant activity of synthetic butylhydroxyanisole, antioxidants were used in equal concentrations (200 ppm). The obtained plant extracts are arranged according to their antioxidant activity in a series (in order of decreasing activity): lemon balm grass > spirea grass > burdock root > bark of European guelder > blackberry leaves > blueberry shoots > thyme grass > raspberry leaves > calendula flowers > oak bark > mountain ash > leaves nettles > mountain ash > rosemary leaves > echinacea flowers > parsley > arugula > peppermint leaves > chamomile > dill. All deep-frying fats need protection from oxidative damage, especially unsaturated fats such as sunflower oil, which is currently widely used in deep-frying in the restaurant segment. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the natural antioxidant (water-alcohol extract of bark of European guelder) was more effective than the synthetic antioxidant butylhydroxyanisole in inhibiting oxidative and hydrolytic processes during heat treatment of sunflower oil. During 5 days of heat treatment, the sample of sunflower oil with bark of European guelder extract was characterized by the lowest values of acid, peroxide and anisidine numbers.