Improving the oxidative stability of polyunsaturated vegetable oils by blending with high‐oleic sunflower oil

Abstract

AbstractMixing different proportions of high‐oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) with polyunsaturated vegetable oils provides a simple method to prepare more stable edible oils with a wide range of desired fatty acid composition. Oxidative stability of soybean, canola and corn oils, blended with different proportions of HOSO to lower the respective levels of linolenate and linoleate, was evaluated at 60°C. Oxidation was determined by two methods: peroxide value and volatiles (hexanal and propanal) by static headspace capillary gas chromatography. Determination of hexanal and propanal in mixtures of vegetable oils provided a sensitive index of linoleate and linolenate oxidation, respectively. Our evaluations demonstrated that all‐cis oil compositions of improved oxidative stability can be formulated by blening soybean, canola and corn oils with different proportions of HOSO. On the basis of peroxide values, a partially hydrogenated soybean oil containing 4.5% linolenate was more stable than the mixture of soybean oil and HOSO containing 4.5% linolenate. However, on the basis of volatile analysis, mixtures of soybean and HOSO containing 2.0 and 4.5% linolenate were equivalent or better in oxidative stability than the hydrogenated soybean oil. Mixtures of canola oil and HOSO containing 1 and 2% linolenate had the same or better oxidative stability than did the hydrogenated canola oil containing 1% linolenate. These studies suggest that we can obviate catalytic hydrogenation of linolenate‐containing vegetable oils by blending with HOSO.