Rapid Methods for Frying Oil Quality Determination: Evaluation with Respect to Legislation Criteria

Abstract

AbstractThis work focuses on the evaluation of commercially available rapid methods for determining frying oil quality. Five rapid methods differing in principle were selected: FOM320 (Ebro), PCT120 (3M), LRSM (3M), Fritest (Merck) and Viscofrit (Viscofrit). The performance of the methods was examined by use of 184 oil samples produced by controlled frying experiments. Twelve series of frying experiments (45 batches each) were performed in which the oil type (palm, sunflower and olive) and the food type (potatoes, zucchini and minced beef meat) varied. Control thermal oxidation experiments with the same oil types were also performed. Results of the rapid methods were compared to results of analytical methods determining legislation criteria. Namely, the total polar compounds and total polymer compounds were determined using High Pressure Size Exclusion Chromatography with and without prior separation of the polar fraction. Furthermore, determination of the free fatty acid concentration, acidity, viscosity and level of oxidation of the oils using UV spectroscopy were carried out. Principal component analysis and linear regression analysis were used in order to assess the obtained results. Comparison of the results of the rapid methods with the analytical ones showed differences in most examined cases. For many of the examined rapid methods the agreement of the results versus those of analytical methods depended on the food‐oil combination used in the frying experiments.