Quality assessment of linseed oil

Abstract

The nutritional structure of various categories of Russian citizens is characterized by insufficient consumption of especially biologically valuable food nutrients, such as vitamins, microelements, polyunsaturated fatty acids. Currently, more and more consumers are paying attention to the fullness of the diet with useful components, i.e. the problem of healthy nutrition of the population is becoming more and more important every year. Vegetable oils and products based on them hold a valuable place among the products related to healthy food. They have a significant calorie content (850-900 kcal per 100 g), but at the same time they differ from animal fats in the absence of cholesterol. They are suppliers of essential fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, phospholipids, sterols and tocopherols to the body. The unique properties and composition of linseed oil are noted. Fatty acid composition, organoleptic assessment and acid value index of seven samples of linseed oil from various Russian manufacturers were analyzed in order to determine their quality. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of the oil samples showed that 28% of the samples did not fall within the ranges stipulated by the regulatory documents for the content of linoleic and linolenic acids. Almost 60% of linseed oil samples had rather high scores (7.0-8.5 points) for taste and smell. Organoleptic characteristics associated with possible falsification by other types of vegetable oils were noted in 30% of the samples. Analysis of the acid value, as an indicator of oxidative deterioration of the product, showed that all samples of linseed oil had no signs of deep oxidative deterioration.