Impact of Tween 20 Hydroperoxides and Iron on the Oxidation of Methyl Linoleate and Salmon Oil Dispersions

To determine the role of surfactant hydroperoxides on the oxidative stability of fatty acids, the oxidation of methyl linoleate micelles and salmon oil-in-water emulsions was measured as a function of varying Tween 20 hydroperoxide concentrations. Increasing Tween 20 hydroperoxide concentrations from 3.5 to 14.7 micromol hydroperoxide/g Tween 20 decreased the lag phase of headspace hexanal formation but did not increase the total amount of hexanal formed in methyl linoleate/Tween 20 micelles. In the micelle system, Fe(2+) decreased the lag phase of hexanal formation but increased total hexanal concentrations only in micelles with the highest Tween 20 hydroperoxide concentrations (14.7 micromol hydroperoxide/g surfactant). Increasing Tween 20 surfactant hydroperoxide concentrations also increased the oxidation of salmon oil-in-water emulsions as determined by lipid hydroperoxides and headspace propanal. In both the micelle and emulsion systems, the prooxidant effect of Fe(2+) decreased with increasing Tween 20 hydroperoxide concentrations. These data show that surfactant hydroperoxides such as those in Tween 20 could decrease the oxidative stability of lipids in food emulsions.